Colors of Life and Death, Book 2: Truth in Dreams
by Songbird21
Summary: Naruto's new chakra may be killing him.... NaruHina, SakuLee, SasuTen
1. The News

Colors of Life and Death series

Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 1

**Rating:** 14+ for gore, language and mild sexual references.

This story is a continuation of my "Colors of Life and Death" series. _Please_ do not read this story first. You can find the first fic listed in my profile.

**Summary: **Naruto is back, but Jiraiya has a secret that will make his homecoming much less than happy.

Always remember, no matter WHAT happens in this fic, that I LOVE happy endings.

There will be NaruHina romance and a bit of SakuLee. There might be SasuTen. I haven't decided yet. If I _do_ make that into a relationship it won't be till much further in the story.

Those of you who were good little minions and read book one know my timetable when it comes to getting chapters done, so I don't feel the need to explain myself a second time.

I'm so sad. I said two months and here I am posting at the one month mark. ((Smacks self)) Hope you guys enjoy it. But I definitely won't be posting chapter 2 (Which is halfway done. ((Sweatdrop)) ) till after January 5th.

Radioplay news and such will be at the end of the chapter.

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Hinata sighed as she stared at the picture on her nightstand. It was of her and Naruto in front of his house. It had become a ritual of sorts for her to say 'good morning' and 'good night' to this picture. She missed him terribly. To have waited for him for so long and have him whisked away so soon after becoming a couple had been extremely hard on her. _"Please come home soon,"_ she mentally begged the smiling image. She rolled over and fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin when Sakura burst through her bedroom door at eight in the morning. She stared at the out of breath girl with wide eyes, having paused in the middle of brushing her hair for the day. "S-S-Sakura-chan! What's wrong?"

Sakura had a grin on her face a mile wide. "He's back!" she said happily.

Hinata instantly knew what Sakura meant and was out the door before Sakura had had time to register that the Hyuuga heiress was no longer in the room.

Sakura laughed loudly once she had gotten over the shock and followed her friend out to the gates.

* * *

Hinata stood on her tiptoes as she anxiously watched the horizon line. After about five minutes she spotted the fuzzy outlines of two men through the morning mist, but she frowned. Neither of them was short enough to be Naruto. She sighed. It looked like she still had some waiting to do, but then she noticed one of the 'men' had spiky, yellow hair, and her jaw dropped. As Jiraiya and Naruto came closer and emerged from the mist, she saw that the once short Naruto had grown...by a little over four inches. 

As soon as Naruto walked through the gate, he noticed a slack-jawed Hinata staring at him from the front of the crowd. He laughed nervously as he stepped in front of her. "Hey, Hina-chan. I ah—I kinda grew," he said as he scratched the back of his neck.

Hinata dumbly nodded.

"Hina-chan?"

Hinata suddenly woke from her daze and threw her arms around his neck. "NARUTO-KUN!" she squealed.

Naruto let out a short breath that sounded like the start of a laugh. "Heh. Hina-chan," he said softly as he held her and closed his eyes in contentment. "I missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you too," Hinata sniffled, "so much..."

"Wooohoooo!" Kiba cat called from the small crowd of welcomers.

Naruto's eye twitched. "Shut up, baka Inu!" he irately yelled. He turned his attention back to Hinata. Even with a group of onlookers, he couldn't resist capturing her mouth in a sweet kiss, ignoring Kiba's increased taunting.

"Eh hem," Tsunade said in an effort to get some of her son's attention.

Naruto laughed. "Sorry, Kaa-san." He gave her a quick hug and stepped back. "I missed all you guys," he said with a wide grin.

Hinata, Sakura, TenTen and Ino couldn't stop their hearts from skipping a beat when he flashed that familiar golden smile which was now enhanced by slightly more manly facial features, not to mention the fact that his body was a lot more sculpted than it had been before he'd left. He didn't look like a body builder by any means, but he was definitely no longer the scrawny boy he'd once been. Lee saw Sakura's expression and gave her a slight nudge in the ribs.

When Sakura saw the slightly hurt expression on her boyfriend's face, she smiled in apology. "No matter how good looking Naruto gets, it's _you_ I love. You got that?"

Lee smiled and nodded, then clasped her hand.

Jiraiya put his fingers in his mouth and made a shrill whistle. "Alright everyone!" Once he knew he had their attention, he continued. "I'm sure you all want to welcome Naruto home, but we need to speak to Tsunade for a while first."

A chorus of muttered agreements was thrown in Jiraiya's direction before the crowd dispersed. Only Hinata remained. "C...can I go?"

Jiraiya looked at her in sympathy. "I'm sorry, Hinata, but this concerns something that Tsunade should hear first."

Hinata sighed. "Alright. I'll see you later, Naruto-kun."

Naruto kissed her forehead. "You got it." After she was gone from sight, his smile fell.

When her son turned to her with such a serious face, Tsunade's chest tightened--something was very wrong. "Let's go to my office. We can talk there."

Naruto and Jiraiya nodded, and the three headed toward the Hokage tower.

* * *

Naruto, Jiraiya and Tsunade sat in complete silence for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Tsunade could take it no longer. "So...anyone going to start?" 

The two weary travelers looked at each other. Jiraiya sighed. "It's the niji chakra."

Tsunade closed her eyes. "He couldn't learn to control it."

"No...it's not that. He can control it just fine, but..." Jiraiya looked at Naruto. "It's hurting him."

"What do you mean...hurting him?" Tsunade asked with a concerned glance at her son.

"He gets tired easily and his stamina is in the toilet. I think we need to find a way to remove the extra chakra colors or he'll be like this for the rest of his life."

For the first time since he had arrived home, Tsunade noticed the sallow tone of Naruto's skin and the dark rings under his eyes. _"Jiraiya must have been disguising his condition with a genjutsu,"_ she thought. "Alright, I'll see what I can find in my books. For now though, I'd like you to go home and rest."

Naruto smiled weakly. "You don't have to tell me twice." And with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Tsunade's eyebrows went up. In the entire time she'd known him, he'd never used that jutsu. She noticed a very quiet Jiraiya nervously chewing on his bottom lip. It was a very odd thing to see someone like him do. "There's something else...isn't there?" she asked with trepidation.

Jiraiya closed his eyes and nodded. "I didn't tell the whole truth about Naruto. Even he doesn't know this...I...I haven't had the heart to tell him," he said as the beginnings of tears formed in his eyes.

"Jiraiya...what is it?" Tsunade asked worriedly.

Jiraiya swallowed. "Tsu-chan..." tears made their way slowly down his face. "He's dying, Tsu-chan."

Tsunade's eyes flew open to their full capacity. "What?-!" she asked in a loud, strangled whisper.

"The only way...I can explain it," Jiraiya paused as he put his hand to his forehead to steady himself, ignoring the stunned sobs coming from Tsunade's direction. "It's the niji chakra. It's too much for his chakra circulatory system. It's slowly wearing it away. I...in about a month...I think...it'll completely collapse," he finished in a whisper.

"Liar..." came Tsunade's soft, yet defiant reply.

Jiraiya looked up at her. Her fists were balled at her sides and tears were streaming down her face. "Tsunade?"

"LIAR!" Tsunade screamed. "My son is NOT dying!!"

"Tsu-chan..." Jiraiya began as he reached for her.

Tsunade punched him in the face. "GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!!!"

Jiraiya hit the wall hard, knocking the wind out of him. He lay there for a moment before sighing sadly, ignoring the pain of his quickly swelling cheek. He closed his eyes, staggered to his feet, and left the room.

Now alone, Tsunade watched the door for a moment before collapsing onto her desk in tears.

* * *

It had been several hours since Naruto had laid his head on his pillow and he had barely slept. His whole body ached. _"I hate this...I hate feeling so damned weak!"_ he thought angrily. He looked at the clock. "Six-thirty. I should go see Hina-chan. I hope she doesn't mind me being so late." With that, he threw off the covers and began to get dressed.

* * *

"I need a favor of you, Hiashi," Tsunade stated with great difficulty.

Hiashi cocked an eyebrow. "This from the woman who called my family traditions 'disgusting'?"

Tsunade sighed heavily. "Although you have a point, you must understand that I am protective of my son. I'm sure you would have gotten just as upset if someone had insulted Hinata."

Hiashi knew how he would have answered that question before the Chuunin exams...a resounding 'no'. However, things had changed drastically since then, so now he gave the only answer he could. "Yes." Silence. "What would you ask of me?"

"I need you to take a look at Naruto's chakra circulatory system and tell me if anything seems...unusual," Tsunade explained, trying to avoid the information of exactly 'what' she wanted him to look for.

"Unusual...in Naruto..." Hiashi cleared his throat. "Isn't that a blanket statement in his case?"

Tsunade allowed herself a small smirk. "I suppose so. I want you to look at the system itself and see if it's...degrading," she finished with a bit of shakiness entering her voice.

"Why would it be doing that?"

"The niji chakra. Jiraiya thinks...thinks that...it may be killing Naruto..." Tsunade said as she squeezed her eyes tight in attempt to stop the tears that were threatening to fall.

Hiashi put a curled index finger to his mouth in thought. He sighed. "Alright. When do you want it done?"

Tsunade wiped her eyes. "In about ten minutes. He said he was meeting Hinata at Ichiraku for dinner."

Hiashi's eyebrow twitched, but he remained calm. "Understood." Hiashi rose from his seat. "I will be back when I have something to report," and with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

After he was gone Tsunade stared out the window. _"Please let Jiraiya be wrong."_

* * *

The clock on the post across the street changed to seven pm and Hiashi saw Naruto walking up the road. "Byakugan!" His enhanced eyes widened at what he saw. _"This is impossible."_ He pushed his vision further. _"His chakra veins are twice as wide as they should be. Not only that, but they're falling apart,"_ he thought as he noted the tiny fissures in the veins. Through these fissures, chakra was leaking into places where it shouldn't have been. _"He should be bed-ridden with this kind of damage. There must still be some weak auto healing properties from the Kyuubi's chakra that he isn't aware of."_ Deciding he'd seen enough, he stood and disappeared. 

Hinata walked under the flaps at the front of Ichiraku. Naruto noticed and smiled. "Hey, Hina-chan!"

Hinata smiled and sat down. She smiled, that is, until she noticed the paleness of Naruto's complexion and the circles under his eyes. "Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just haven't been getting much sleep lately," Naruto said before slurping up some more ramen.

Hinata's face wore an unsure frown. "Is...is it alright if I ask what you and Tsunade-sama talked about?"

Naruto looked down. "The niji-chakra's hurting me. Kaa-san needs to find a way to get rid of it or I'll be weak my whole life."

"Oh, Naruto-kun..." Hinata bit her lower lip. "Is...is there any way I can help?"

Naruto frowned in thought. Suddenly his face lit up with inspiration. "Can you take a look at my chakra system?"

Hinata blushed a bit. "S...sure." She looked at the ramen waiting for her on the counter. Her stomach rumbled. "But...a-after lunch?"

Naruto chuckled. "Sure."

* * *

"Well...?" Tsunade asked, her throat tightening so badly that she felt like she couldn't breathe. 

Hiashi shook his head. "I'm sorry...Jiraiya-sama was right."

Tsunade's jaw was tightly clenched as she spoke. "I...see."

"In fact...I think the only reason he's still alive is that he has somehow awakened the auto-healing properties of the Kyuubi chakra," Hiashi stated quietly.

"Thank you...Hiashi," Tsunade said with a forced even tone to her voice.

Hiashi nodded and left the room. As soon as he shut the door he could hear screams of rage and sadness and the sounds of things being broken. He frowned, shook his head, and walked away.

* * *

"This looks like a good spot," Naruto announced once they had gone into the forest a bit. He spread his arms wide and smiled. "Okay, hit me." 

Hinata nodded and blushed a bit. "Hai. Byakugan!" The instant Hinata saw the shape Naruto's chakra system was in she wished he hadn't asked her to look. Her eyes went back to their normal state and she stared at him—her mouth agape and her eyes filling with tears.

Naruto's heart caught in his throat at seeing his girlfriend's look of absolute horror. "H...Hina-chan?"

Hinata suddenly dropped to her knees and began crying loudly.

Naruto fell down next to her. "Hina-chan, what is it?!" he cried desperately.

Hinata could barely speak. "Y...you're...I..." She sucked in a tear-filled breath. "I...I...I...I think..." She buried her face in Naruto's chest and held onto him for dear life. "Y-y-you're dying!" she cried in despair.

Naruto's eyes went wide as dinner plates. He grabbed Hinata's arms and pushed her backward so he could look at her face. "Wh...What do you mean?!" he demanded in a shrill voice.

"Y...you're chakra s...system's d-d-deteriorating!" Hinata barely managed to squeeze out of her already heavily taxed lungs.

At this revelation Naruto slumped forward to lean onto Hinata. As he began to cry, all of his dreams seemed to be crashing down around his ears.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

I am _so _gonna hafta re-enforce the RPR after that chapter. ((Dives inside, locks doors, and turns on security system.)) 

**Radioplay news:** Nothing really to report. Lost my Kyuubi actor, found a new one. Hopefully chapter 3 will come out sometime after mid January. On that note, I would _really _like it if you guys could review the voice actor's preformances on the chapters. Some of them are starting to get discouraged and if that happens they might quite. I really, **_really_ **don't want to have to cast Sasuke again. And please review the radioplay in the radioplay forums (Link in profile) if you can. Thanks:)

Hope you guys all liked your early Christmas prezzy. :)

Ja na,  
Song


	2. Hope

Colors of Life and Death series

Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 2

Due to the overwhelming amount of requests (And because writing has been pretty much the only thing I could do for the last 10 days) I have released this early. Now, just remember, if you kill me you won't get your happy ending. runs

I'm hoping the site will not begrudge me at least an occasional review response section, so here goes:

_Infinite Freedom_: He better live otherwise I will do things to you so sadistic that they would make Anko look like a saint. **((MEEP!))**

_Kyu Ryu_: It's a good thing you like happy endings, or I would through my computer out my window right about now..." **((Now now. Enough computers have already suffered at the hands of Chibi-chan. Lol)) **

And thank you very much to everyone else who reviewed. I'd type them out, but over 60 names would take quite a bit of space. Lol.

To those of you who normally read the story on my site: I will be posting both chapters there soon. I just haven't had the chance.

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Hinata and Naruto had not moved for over fifteen minutes. After they'd had finished crying, they had remained rooted to that spot--terrified of letting go. It was around this time that Tsunade and Jiraiya had found them.

_"Oh God...Hinata found out."_ Jiraiya thought. _"And she's probably told him. Shit...this will make things more difficult."_ He took a small step towards the couple. "Naruto..." he said softly.

No response.

Tsunade bit her lower lip. "Naruto...I need to talk to you."

Neither teenager moved. "Leave me alone," was Naruto's whispered reply. "I want to stay here."

Tsunade grimaced and tried to control her emotions as she knelt down next to him. "I want to try some jutsus--see if I can fix the damage."

"Jiraiya..." Naruto said.

Jiraiya winced at hearing Naruto address him as something other than his nickname. "Yes?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto asked as he slightly tipped his head sideways to look at him.

Jiraiya squeezed his eyes shut. "I didn't know how," he said as he placed a hand on the blonde boy's shoulder.

Naruto closed his eyes. "How long...do I have?"

"Right now, I don't think more than...a month," Jiraiya answered softly.

"We need to go," Tsunade pleaded.

Naruto shook his head almost imperceptibly.

Tsunade sighed. "Jiraiya," she whispered, "take Hinata home. I'll take Naruto."

Jiraiya nodded. As a unit, the two stepped forward, each swiftly grabbing their intended targets. The reaction was instantaneous.

"No! NO!" Hinata screeched, her arms reaching for Naruto as Jiraiya pulled her backwards.

"Let me go, dammit!" Naruto yelled as he struggled to get free.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. This is too important," Tsunade said in a pained tone of voice.

"At least let Hina-chan come with us!" Naruto pleaded as he tried to get to the girl in question.

Jiraiya gave Tsunade a questioning look. She nodded and they let Naruto and Hinata go. "Alright," Tsunade relented. Naruto and Hinata were back in each other's arm in an instant. "But let me make something very clear; she gets in the way for even a second and she's going home. Is that understood?" she asked sternly.

Both teens quickly nodded.

* * *

Tsunade, seated at a large desk, angrily scratched something out on the notepad in front of her. "DAMN IT! Why can't I figure this out?!"

Jiraiya sighed and rose from his seat across the small room. "You need a break, Tsunade. You've been at this for six hours."

Tsunade pushed off the hand her old friend had placed on her shoulder. "I'm fine," she said with determination as she continued scribbling down her notes.

"Tsunade, you won't do Naruto any good if you can't think straight from exhaustion," Jiraiya reasoned.

Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed. "Alright, but only for an hour. You wake me up any later than that and I'll beat the hell out of you." She stood up and turned off the blue-shaded desk lamp that had been illuminating her work.

Jiraiya nervously cleared his throat. "Right."

* * *

Naruto lay in bed in the private hospital ward of his house. Hinata slept in a small cot across from his left side. The room didn't look much different than a regular bedroom. In fact, the only indicators that it was medical in nature were the construction of the bed and the various instruments scattered about.

A thin shaft of light broke the darkness of the room as the door opened. Tsunade stepped softly so as not to disturb the sleeping couple. When she reached the bed she stared at her son's sleeping form. "Just a short break, Naruto. I'll go right back to work after I clear my head." She reached down and gently stroked his forehead. "I won't let you die...I promise," she whispered.

* * *

The next morning Naruto felt as though his head was about to split open. Just as he had every time he'd felt pain in the last few months, he forced healing chakra to the place that hurt. He wasn't entirely certain of what he was doing, but he had to be doing something right if he was still alive. _"Ugh. The pain's not totally gone. Maybe it's getting too bad for me to fix,"_ he thought glumly.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Naruto allowed himself a small smile. "Hey, Hina-chan."

Hinata yawned and stretched. "What time is it?"

"About nine-thirty. How'd you sleep?" Naruto asked, trying to keep the conversation away from his condition.

Hinata smiled. "Okay. My neck is a little sore though. Has Tsunade-sama found anything yet?"

Naruto sighed. _"So much for keeping the conversation normal."_ He took off his sleeping cap. "No. I don't know what she thinks she can do though. She told me the chakra's all mixed together."

"It is...but I think I've found a way around it," came Tsunade's tired voice from the doorway.

The heads of both teens whipped toward the door. "How?!" Naruto demanded.

Tsunade sat down on the end of the bed. "The different chakras did mix properly, but it's the _amount_ that's out of balance. In six months you still haven't managed to use up enough of your chakra to restore that balance."

"So what do we do?" Hinata asked urgently.

"No problem!" Naruto chimed in. "I'll just make a bunch of Kage Bunshins till it's back to normal," he explained, feeling rather pleased with himself.

Tsunade shook her head. "In your current condition, that would kill you."

Naruto frowned and blew an angry puff of air out of his nose.

"I'm going to teach you Souzou saisei (Genesis Rebirth) no Jutsu," Tsunade said with a firm tone.

Naruto's eyebrows went up. "But won't that hurt me too?"

"It's a gentle technique. Once you've collected enough chakra to the diamond you can use it to perform a mass healing on yourself--this way you get rid of the excess and repair the damage at the same time."

"How long will it take?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Well, in my case it took a few years, but then, I only used the jutsu for a short time each morning. If you work on it for at least twelve hours a day, you should be able to reach capacity within a week. You also may have to do it more than once, depending on just how much excess chakra there is."

Naruto smiled widely and lowered his head as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't get too relaxed, Naruto. I'm not one-hundred percent sure this will work," Tsunade said with a pained expression.

"Still...thanks, Kaa-san," Naruto said as he gave her a hug.

"For my son, I could do no less," Tsunade said with conviction.

* * *

Naruto tried desperately to ignore the pins and needles sensation that was steadily growing in nearly every one of his joints. He sat on his bed, legs crossed, eyes closed and his hands in the tiger seal. He had been working on the Souzou saisei for just over three hours. Although it was driving him crazy, he had actually managed to form a diamond about the size of a grain of sand, which was quite an achievement for someone who'd never used such a jutsu.

Suddenly, his concentration was disrupted when he heard yelling outside his window. He frowned and jumped to his feet, which nearly ended with him falling over due to the fact that his legs were a bit numb. He opened his window to find Sakura verbally facing off with a young, female chuunin.

"That's a lie and I am NOT going to listen to it anymore!" Sakura yelled.

The chuunin glared at her. "Fine! I was just telling you what I heard! You believe what you want!" she said as she turned on her heel and stormed off.

Sakura promptly stuck out her tongue at the retreating back of her opponent. Just then, Naruto came running out of the house.

"Sakura-chan!" he called out with a wave. "What was that all about?" he asked once he had reached her.

Sakura snorted. "Just some jerk telling a," she paused in her statement long enough to turn toward the road where the chuunin could still be seen as a slowly shrinking speck, "TOTAL LIE," only to be answered by a rude hand gesture, barely discernable due to the distance. She turned back to Naruto and her voice regained its normal volume level, "about you."

Naruto's face twisted in confusion. "About me? What was she saying?"

Sakura shook her head in annoyance. "She was trying to tell me someone was listening outside Tsunade-sama's office and they heard her say you were _dying_," she repeated the story in complete disgust. "Can you believe...?" she stopped when she saw the strange look on Naruto's face. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto gulped. "Come on inside for a second, Sakura-chan," he said softly.

Sakura's frown deepened. "What's wrong?"

Naruto shook his head almost imperceptibly. "Just c'mon," he repeated as he began walking.

Something clicked inside Sakura's head and her breath caught in her throat. She dashed in front of him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "It's not true, is it?!" she asked in panic.

Naruto's expression was unreadable.

"IS IT?!" Sakura repeated in a shrill voice.

Naruto simply squeezed his eyes shut, gritted his teeth and lowered his gaze.

"No..." Sakura took the tiniest step backwards. "I...I don't understand...How?" she asked as tears welled up in her eyes.

Naruto sighed. "Come on in the house...I'll explain there."

* * *

Sakura sat on the couch opposite Naruto, staring at the floor. "So...there's a chance you'll be okay?" she asked quietly without raising her head.

"Yeah." Naruto was silent for a moment before continuing. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I won't go down without a fight," he said with determination.

Sakura looked up at him and sniffled. "I don't even want there to _be_ a down."

Naruto gave his friend a hug and sighed. "I know. Do me a favor though? Please don't tell anyone else."

Sakura broke the hug and frowned at him. "What about Hinata and Sasuke-kun?"

"Hina-chan already knows. Sasuke...He's had enough grief in his life."

"Naruto-kun, he's your brother. He has a right to know," Sakura said with a firm, yet gentle tone.

"If it gets to the point where there's no hope, I'll tell him."

Sakura tilted her head slightly to one side and squinted at the tiny blue dot on Naruto's forehead. "Amazing. You've already gotten it to work."

"Yeah. I was in the middle of it when I heard you yelling." Naruto gave Sakura a half smile. "I better get back to it."

Sakura nodded. "Okay. I'll go apologize to Kagura." She stood to leave. "I'll see you later?"

Naruto gave her a small smile. "You bet."

* * *

Two days later, Naruto stared in the mirror at the diamond which was now roughly half the size of his pinkie finger nail. He nodded in satisfaction and decided to go out for a walk to stretch his legs. He was tired of being stuck in the house.

As he was strolling down the main street of Konoha, he noticed a lot of people looking at him strangely. _"Is that...pity?"_ he thought. _"Oh please tell me everybody doesn't know..."_

His suspicions were confirmed, however, when he stopped to pick up some chocolates for Hinata. As he started to hand over his money the clerk gently pushed it back at him. "It's on the house today, sweetie." Her voice and her eyes held the same pity he'd been seeing the entire way there.

Naruto gave the kind woman a small smile. "Thanks."

As he left the shop Naruto's heart raced in panic. _"I gotta find Sasuke...fast."_ He was about to start running when a strong hand came down on his shoulder. He turned around to see Kakashi staring down at him.

"So, here you are. You have to go home right now. Tsunade-sama is worried sick," Kakashi said in a voice that managed to be disapproving and nonchalant at the same time.

Naruto desperately tried to reason with Kakashi. "You don't understand! Everyone knows what's going on. I gotta make sure Sasuke doesn't find out!"

Kakashi's visible eye widened for a second before resuming its normal size. "I think you're already too late."

Naruto turned around to find his elder brother giving him a glare that could melt glacial ice. "Sasuke..."

Kakashi sighed. "I'll give you twenty minutes; after that I'll be back for you."

"Arigato."

Kakashi leapt away. Naruto stood still for only a moment before making a run for the forest. "Naruto!" Sasuke yelled before giving chase.

_"I can't talk to him about this in front of all those people."_ He had just broken the civilization/forest border when he began to feel his legs giving out on him. He stumbled and rolled down a hillside, landing on his back at the bottom.

Sasuke saw Naruto fall and ran faster. "Naruto!" He leapt to the bottom of the hill in one jump and rushed to Naruto's side. "Are you okay?!"

Naruto turned his head toward Sasuke. "Ow. Depends on what you mean by okay," he groaned.

Sasuke suddenly remembered why he'd been chasing his brother and slugged him in the cheek. "When the hell were you gonna tell me?!" Naruto averted his gaze. "HUH?!" Naruto stayed silent. "Or was I gonna find out when they sent me the funeral notice?!" Still no response. "ANSWER ME GOD DAMN IT!!"

Naruto finally found his voice. "I didn't want to say anything till I knew for sure."

"Till you knew for sure that you're DYING?!" Sasuke screamed, gritting his teeth to keep back the tears.

"No! Till I knew for sure that the cure wouldn't work!" Naruto yelled back as he sat up.

"Cure?!" Sasuke asked as his anger melted away and was replaced with hope.

Naruto nodded. "Kaa-san taught me Souzou saisei." He pushed up the hair that had fallen over his forehead. "See?"

Sasuke seemed to relax a little. "So...what's the chance of it working?" he asked as he sat down and folded his arms on his knees.

"Pretty good. We'll know in five days," Naruto replied softly.

Sasuke looked at Naruto. "Okay, but if you die on me, I'll kick your sorry ass all over the after life."

Naruto smirked. "Yeah."

* * *

On day four Naruto found he was able to sit for five hours without needing to stretch. _"At least I'll have a lot more patience when this is done,"_ he thought in mild amusement. He heard a knock on his door. "Hai?"

"It's me, Naruto-kun. Can I come in?" Hinata's voice asked.

Naruto smiled. "Sure."

Hinata opened the door. "I brought you Ichiraku for lunch," she said with a smile.

"AH! Hina-chan, you're the best!!" Naruto exclaimed as he grabbed the takeout container.

Hinata giggled. "How is the jutsu go..." she paused when she saw the size of the diamond on Naruto's forehead, which was now the size of an adult thumbnail. "S...sugoi. You're amazing, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto nodded his thanks since his mouth was stuffed with ramen.

"Well, it looks like I don't have to call you down to lunch after all," said Tsunade as she stood in the doorway.

Naruto swallowed his latest bite and laughed. "Yeah, now I don't ha..." his sentence was interrupted as his eyes suddenly closed and he fell to the floor. The ramen bowl fell beside him, leaking its contents onto the rug.

"Naruto!" yelled Tsunade as she fell to her knees next to him.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata squeaked. Both she and Tsunade immediately fired up their healing jutsu, all the while chanting prayers in their heads.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

((Adds motion sensor activated lasers to RPR)) **((Cough)) **

Solution next chapter. I promise. And chapter 3 is over halfway done (Had a lot of time to write on vacation) so you won't have to deal with the suspense for too long.

No new radioplay or doujin news to report. I've been stuck at my Mother-in-Law's so I haven't been able to work on anything requiring Adobe Premiere.

Till next chappy,

Song


	3. Light

**(Sits out in front of RPR; having full confidence in her safety) **Hi all. Sorry bout the delay. I got this out as quick as I could. Review responses got a bit long so they're at the end of the chap. Enjoy:D

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

"Come on, Naruto...please!" Tsunade whispered strongly, her face wet with fresh tears. 

Hinata didn't speak. She knew if she did, she might lose control of her emotions.

Suddenly Naruto took in a huge breath and his eyes wearily opened. "What happened?"

An immensely relieved smile graced Tsunade's face. "Don't scare me like that," she chided as she gave him a hug.

Once he was released from the hug, Naruto turned his face toward Hinata, who fell onto his chest, sobbing with relief.

Tsunade sighed heavily. "Alright, we can't wait any longer. Naruto, you're going to have to release the jutsu now."

"But it's not finished yet," Naruto replied as he gently pushed himself and Hinata up to a semi-sitting position.

"It doesn't matter, I...I think we almost lost you a minute ago," Tsunade explained.

Naruto was shocked at the look of utter fear in Tsunade's eyes. "But you said I had a month!"

"Obviously, we miscalculated," Tsunade said.

"Okay," Naruto replied. He put his hands in the tiger seal as Hinata moved back a bit to give him room. "Souzou Saisei No Jutsu!"

It was certainly a sight to behold. Hinata had never in her life seen such a beautiful chakra. _"Naruto-kun..."_

The colors spun in an intricate web around Naruto's body. Not long after, it began to fade and then disappeared altogether, at which point he fell forward a bit. Tsunade and Hinata caught him. He looked up at them with tired eyes. "Did...did it work?"

Hinata instantly put her hand into her usual seal. "Byakugan!" She saw the size of the chakra veins had been greatly reduced and most of the cracks in them were gone. After a tense moment, Hinata smiled and tears of joy rolled down her face. "It worked!" she exclaimed before hugging Naruto tightly.

Naruto smiled widely, laughing through his joyful tears.

Hinata sniffled. "I th...think he should do it one more time though. There was still some damage."

Tsunade nodded. "But for now I think he should rest."

"No kidding. I could sleep for a week," Naruto said with a slight chuckle. He tried to get up but his weakened body simply wouldn't allow it. Tsunade's face broke into a lopsided smile and she picked up her son. "Baa-chan!"

"Deal with it," Tsunade replied. She laid him in his bed and pushed some hair out of his face. "Get some sleep. I'll be downstairs if you need me." She turned to Hinata. "You're welcome to stay for a while if you wish."

"Arigato, Tsunade-sama," Hinata said with a short, polite bow.

Tsunade nodded and then left. As she quietly shut the door she smiled. _"Thank Kami-sama."_

* * *

Naruto stared in the mirror at the new diamond on his forehead and sighed. "Just one more day and I can get rid of this dumb lookin' thing," he complained to no one. 

He threw on his outfit, for which he'd gotten the cuffs extended after his growth spurt. His pants were fine though, they'd been a little too long to begin with. He checked over his hair. _"Glad I didn't do the ponytail thing. It's just not me."_ Once he was finished with his grooming, he went downstairs for breakfast.

"Ohayo," Naruto said as he sat down at the table.

"Would you like ramen, Naruto-sama?" Izumi asked.

Naruto yawned. "Hai."

"How long until you finish the jutsu?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm gonna release it tomorrow."

Tsunade leaned forward and looked at the diamond. "I think you can do it today."

Naruto perked up. "Really?!"

"Yeah. I think it's big enough to take care of the rest of the damage," Tsunade said with an approving smile.

"Yosh!" Naruto happily exclaimed.

* * *

"So, you're okay then?" Sasuke asked of the newly 'diamond free' Naruto. 

Naruto smiled widely. "Yeah."

Sakura grabbed her blonde-haired friend in a crushing hug.

Sasuke sighed in relief. "I'm glad." Slightly embarrassed at showing so 'much' emotion in front of Sakura, he added with a smirk, "Now I don't have to waste my time kicking your ass."

Naruto shook his head with a small laugh. "Thanks, Nii-san."

Lee walked by the trio, then back peddled till he was next to them again. "You guys are going to be late getting your mission," he chided.

"Oh. Thanks, Lee-kun," Sakura said with a warm smile. She put a friendly hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We gotta go. See you later."

"Actually, Baa-chan says I'm back on duty," Naruto said with a grin.

Sakura smiled. "Let's go then."

The three fell in step with Lee, and Sakura held his hand. Naruto's eyebrows went up in surprise when he noticed Lee had been growing his hair and that he now had a three inch long braid in the back. When they reached the Hokage tower, he also noticed that Lee had grown out his bowl cut a bit and now had curtain bangs similar to Sasuke's, only a lot shorter. _"Huh. Weird how things can change so much in six months."_

* * *

Naruto smiled when Hinata waved at him from the front of the assignment line. After a few moments, he saw team eight move to the far side of the room and seat themselves in some of the chairs along the wall. He found it odd, since normally they would be leaving to bring the mission to Kurenai. 

Once they had reached the front of the line, Tsunade handed team seven a mission packet. "Okay, here's your assignment. Please wait for me over there," she instructed as she waved her hand at the remaining empty seats next to Hinata's team.

Naruto's team wandered over and sat down. "Hey, Hina-chan, do you know what's going on?"

Hinata shook her head.

Once the final assignment had been passed out, Tsunade stood up and walked over to the two teams she had sidelined. "Your jounin instructors will be here shortly."

"Are we in trouble, Sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Not at all. Your teams are joining together for a mission," Tsunade explained.

Naruto and Hinata smiled at each other. "Where are we going?" Naruto asked.

Just then, Kakashi and Kurenai poofed into the room. "Yo," Kakashi greeted.

"You're going to Suna," Tsunade said.

Kurenai was confused. Fellow hidden villages didn't call on help from each other often, due to the fact that they usually had enough of their own forces. "Suna? Is something wrong?"

"Well, nothing is entirely certain yet, but there is a possibility of an Akatsuki attack." Eyes widened all around. "Most of their teams are out on missions and that leaves Suna largely unguarded"

Kakashi was the first to speak. "If it's Akatsuki, why are you only sending two gennin teams?"

"As I said, nothing is certain yet—not to mention that if the Akatsuki really are on the move we can't afford to spare a large number of jounin and anbu. You eight will suffice for the time being. Kakashi and Kurenai will be doing any real fighting, should there be a need. The rest of you will mainly be there as extra eyes and ears."

Kakashi nodded. "I'll give you guys an hour to pack. Meet me at the front gates."

Team seven nodded and left. After Kakashi vanished Kurenai looked at her team and sighed. "I suppose we'll do the same. Dismissed."

* * *

"Neh, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as they walked. 

"Hm?" Kakashi answered from the open pages of his book.

"Do you know what happened to Gaara after we got Sasuke back?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Gaara, huh?" He looked off into the sky. "From what I've been told, he'll be taking his jounin exam soon."

"NANI?!" Jounin exams?! I haven't even made Chuunin yet!" Naruto sputtered.

"He gained a field commission just before you left with Jiraiya and insisted on taking the jounin exam early. It will be interesting to see how he does," Kakashi explained before sticking his nose back into his book.

Kurenai wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Do you have to read that horrible book in front of children?"

Kakashi looked genuinely insulted. "I'll have you know that this is a great literary work."

Seeing that there would be no winning the argument, Kurenai simply shook her head and sighed.

Naruto, meanwhile, was busy grumbling to himself. _"Why the hell does the one who used to be psycho get to be Chuunin before me?"_

Hinata saw Naruto's incredulous expression and giggled to herself. "Neh, Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?" Naruto asked as he hopped over a large rock.

"When we stop for the night, do you think you could show me the rasengan?" Hinata asked with a slight pink tinge to her cheeks.

Naruto cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Eh? You've seen it."

"N...not with the niji chakra," Hinata replied in a small voice.

Naruto walked closer to her. "Why does the niji chakra make a difference?"

Hinata's blush deepened. "I...I think it's pretty."

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush. "Oh..."

Sakura fell in step with Naruto and Hinata. "So did Tsunade-sama finish studying your chakra?" she directed to Naruto.

"Hai." A bird interrupted Naruto's thoughts for a moment as it flew overhead. Once it was gone, he turned back to Sakura. "She said it's still more chakra than normal, but that it's...compact, denser. She also said I probably have more chakra than any ninja alive," he answered with an unsure tone to his voice.

Sakura's eyes widened before her face settled into a slight frown. "That sounds a little scary."

Naruto looked worried. "You're not scared of me now...are you Sakura-chan?"

Sakura shook her head. "No no—that's not what I meant. I mean it must be scary for you."

"Why?"

Sakura sighed. "Maybe it's just me. It's just that having that kind of power inside myself would be...I would be terrified of losing control."

"I was a little scared before Ero-sennin helped me, but I'm totally fine now," Naruto answered with a grin.

"Really?" Sakura asked.

"Totally," Naruto reassured her.

"I'm glad," Sakura replied.

* * *

Hinata stared at the ball of swirling colors and white light in wonder. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," she said softly. 

Naruto smiled. "Thanks." He stopped the jutsu and fell backwards onto the soft grass of the hill they were on. "I could just fall asleep right here," he said with a sigh.

Hinata smiled and laid down next to him. "I love the stars. I used to wish on them...a lot."

Naruto rolled over to look at her. "How come you don't anymore?"

Hinata turned her head toward him. "I got my wish," she said happily.

Naruto's only answer was an ear to ear grin. Suddenly, he closed the gap between them, put his left arm and leg over her and snuggled his face into the spot where her neck met her shoulder—sighing happily.

Hinata froze. She had absolutely no idea how to address her current...situation. She knew he didn't mean anything perverted by it, but it still made the blood rush to her face until she was as red as the crimson liquid itself. "N...N-N-N-Naruto-kun? A...ano...?"

At Hinata's stuttered words, a flash of Tsunade entered Naruto's mind. _((I want you two in separate sleeping bags.))_ Naruto suddenly realized what he had done and jumped off the confused girl like she was a poisonous snake. "AH! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" he said, waving his hands franticly in the space between them.

Hinata swallowed. "N-no. I'm sorry. I sh-shouldn't have reacted like that," she answered as her fingers reverted to their old habits.

"No! Totally not your fault. I shouldn't have done that in the first place."

Both teens were quiet for a moment before Naruto broke the silence. "Hina-chan?"

"Y-yes?" Hinata answered softly.

"Do...do you think it's perverted...to hold you that way?" Naruto asked with shaky voice.

Hinata thought for a moment. "N-no...not as long as nothing else h-happens...I think," she said before swallowing down her nerves.

"Then...then can I?" Naruto asked with great trepidation.

Hinata considered this for a moment before nodding with a small smile.

Naruto smiled back and, while taking great care to make certain his face didn't wind up anywhere indecent, resumed the position he had a moment ago.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?"

"I think I would like it better if we switched places," Hinata said softly.

Naruto smiled. "Sounds good."

After a moment of rearranging, Hinata had her head on Naruto's chest. His right arm held her tight as they stared at the blanket of stars in the night sky.

From his hiding place, Kakashi's face crinkled into a smile. "Looks like Tsunade-sama had nothing to worry about after all."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Figured you guys could use some happy after the last two chaps. Lol. Next chapter I will attempt to write Gaara for the first time. Do me a favor and pray for my sanity? Lol. 

Witcher CO- how come Kyuubi's training did not help any? **It did (He mentions it in chap 2). In fact, if he hadn't been using it when he felt pain over those six months he would've died. You gotta remember that Naruto is not a medical nin and he was really just throwing metaphorical aspirin to the place it hurt and hoping it did something.**

BakaHammerGirl- **Wow. It's been a long time since a review made me laugh so hard. My sides still hurt. Lol**

678yui-julie-and-kiki-kitten- The monkeys will eat your sock if he dies. **That is in the top ten for weirdest review ever. LOL. (Hides her socks)**

KingOfShippers- (Head explodes in a shower of sparks) **Ewwwww.**

Elellon- I understand that Naruto is currently learning the Sozo Saisei, but from what I could understand of the technique, it speeds up cell division so the user will have a shorter than normal life. This could be counteracted with Naruto having a longer-than-normal life because of the abnormal chakra he has now, but I'm still interested in what you are planning. **Honestly, I hadn't even thought about that. I suppose I should do something with it. Lol**

Dragon Man 180- who spread the news of his condition? **Sakura mentions it when she's telling Naruto about why she was yelling at that Chuunin. **

And thank you so much to everyone else who reviewed:D


	4. Kitsune and Tanuki

Colors of Life and Death series

Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 4

I would like to take a moment to dedicate this chapter to Michael Lowe. He is one of my readers who is in the army and has been called to duty. I pushed to get this chapter up because he wanted to read one more before he shipped out. Michael, I was deeply touched by your letter and wish you the best of luck. This chapter is for you.

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

He peered out over the village from his perch atop the huge Kazekage complex. He'd just heard the news that there were some visitors headed towards Suna and he was watching the entrance with great interest. Or at least, inwardly he had great interest—outwardly he was the usual, stoic shell that was the norm for Subaku No Gaara. _"So...Uzumaki Naruto...eh?"_ The wind swirled his hair about as the sky turned golden due to the sun beginning its daily descent. He squinted as eight silhouetted figures appeared at the gates—one of them having an unmistakable crop of spiky hair. _"Perhaps I will finally have my questions answered."_

* * *

The place was enormous...and it annoyed the hell out of Naruto. _"When I become Hokage I am __**so**__ making the tower bigger"_ he thought defiantly as he stalked inside behind Kakashi. He didn't notice the pair of icy teal eyes that watched him very closely.

"_What is your secret?"_ Gaara thought as he watched Naruto, who was very energetically saying something to his jounin instructor for which he was quickly punched on top on the head by his pink-haired team mate. The yell of 'BAKA!' that followed caused Gaara to cock an eyebrow in amusement, which was currently the closest thing he had to a laugh. _"I __**know**__ you are like me. Somehow..."_

* * *

The room was fairly bland; apparently, the Kazekage had little interest in decorations. He sat in the lotus position at the far end of the room. He was thin, yet healthy in build, and of average height. His short, dark brown hair had bits of silver scattered throughout and his eyes were a dark hazel. Anbu guards flanked him on both sides. "Welcome, Kakashi, Kurenai," he said as he nodded to each of them. He waved a graceful hand at a row of pillows on the floor in front of him. "Please, sit." The Konoha jounin nodded respectfully and complied. 

After studying them for a moment, he let a polite smile slide onto his angular face. "As you know, we have reason to believe the Akatsuki may pay us a visit in the near future. Naturally, I find this a bit unnerving while most of my higher ranked shinobi are absent—which is why you are here."

"Have you decided where we will be posted?" Kurenai asked.

"Indeed I have." The Kazekage unrolled a scroll, which had a map of Suna on it. "Kakashi and Kurenai—your stations will be here and here," he said, pointing to the giant guard outpost the made up the front wall of the village. "You children," he said with a bit of disdain, "will be in these towers." Several round spots on the map indicated the location of the lookout towers.

Two Chuunin entered the room. "Chihoko and Yasuomi will show you to your quarters. You will relieve the Suna shinobi in two hours," said the Kazekage.

The Konoha teams nodded in agreement and stood to leave. As they walked out, however, Kakashi put a hand on Kurenai's shoulder. "I'll catch up with you in a bit."

Kurenai looked confused but nodded anyway. "Okay."

Once the others were gone, Kakashi turned to the Kazekage. "With all due respect, Kazekage-sama—do you have a problem with my students?"

The Kazekage arched an eyebrow slightly. "To be honest with you, Kakashi, I feel a bit slighted that the Godaime sent mere gennin into such a serious situation and I'm not convinced they can do the job asked of them."

Kakashi frowned but it quickly evolved into a smile. "Don't worry, Kazekage-sama. I know these kids. Even though they hold the rank of gennin, four of them have taken on 'S' class missions."

Now both the Kazekage's eyebrows went up. "Then why, pray tell, are they still gennin?"

Kakashi smirked under his mask. "Although they are strong enough to be chuunin, they have yet to develop leadership skills."

"Ah, I see. Then why not simply teach them some?" the Kazekage suggested in a somewhat condescending tone.

"Hm?"

"Teach them some. You are their sensei, are you not?"

Kakashi cocked his head to the side. "True. Although with Naruto..."

"Naruto...Uzumaki Naruto?!" the Kazekage interrupted suddenly.

Kakashi was a bit perturbed. "What about him?"

"Isn't he the Kyuubi's container?!" the Kazekage asked hotly.

"Was," Kakashi corrected. "The Kyuubi is dead. And it wouldn't have mattered either way. The seal was secure. You wouldn't have been in any danger."

The Kazekage calmed down considerably. "My concern was not for myself, but my citizens." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Wait, shouldn't he be dead also if the Kyuubi is gone?"

Kakashi flinched a bit. "There were...unique circumstances."

"How so?"

Kakashi adjusted his headband. "To sum it up...Naruto is now the world's only holder of the niji chakra."

The Kazekage's eyes showed his disbelief. "That's impossible. The niji chakra is only a legend."

Kakashi found this amusing. "Then Naruto is a walking legend."

The Kazekage thought for a moment. "I would like to see this chakra," he said suddenly.

"I'm not going to let anyone turn Naruto into a guinea pig," Kakashi warned.

"Nothing of the sort, Kakashi. However, when someone is told that there is a unicorn in their midst don't you think it natural they would want to see it?"

"Hm. I suppose so—but only if he agrees to show you."

The Kazekage nodded. "Of course."

* * *

The Kazekage watched Naruto's chakra in awe. "I never would have believed it, had I not seen it with my own eyes." 

Naruto stopped molding chakra and smiled nervously.

The Kazekage put a hand on his shoulder. "You have something amazing there, young man. Be responsible with it," he warned in a kindly way.

Naruto put his hand up in a salute. "Osu! A future Hokage's gotta be responsible, right?" he said with a grin.

The Kazekage cocked an eyebrow in amusement. "Future Hokage, eh?" After staring at the boy for a moment a warm smile graced his features. "Watching you will be interesting." And with that, he walked away.

* * *

Naruto sighed again, which severely irritated his tower-mate. "Will you stop that?!" Kiba complained. 

Naruto lolled his head backward. "I can't help it. This is boring as hell."

"Look, I'm bored too, but hearing you sigh every five seconds is gonna make me kill myself!" Kiba said loudly.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said sulkily. He looked over the rocky outcroppings at the edge of the village and noticed a certain red-haired ninja watching him from the top of a huge boulder. _"What the hell is he staring at me for?"_ he thought as his eye twitched in irritation. He turned toward Kiba. "I'll be back in a sec."

"What? You're not leaving me with this stupid job by myself."

Naruto stepped up onto the edge of the tower wall. "I'll just be a sec. I saw someone I know," he replied before leaping away.

Kiba glared after his friend, but did not follow. "Damn him."

* * *

Gaara's face wore a bored expression as he watched Naruto coming toward him. "Hmpf," he said in curiosity. 

"Gaara!" Naruto yelled just before jumping onto the same rock as his target.

Gaara just looked at him. "Hai?"

"Why the heck were you staring at me?" Naruto demanded.

Gaara's eyebrows went up in irritation at the finger that was now rudely pointed at his face. "No particular reason."

Naruto's eye twitched. "You don't just go staring at people for no reason!" he said as he sat down.

"Why are you sitting?" Gaara asked curtly.

"If you have a right to stare at me for no reason then I can sit next to you for no reason!" Naruto retorted.

Gaara sighed and decided to stare at a chipmunk. Of course, Naruto decided this was an invitation to ask what seemed like pointless questions to someone he barely knew. "So...how've you been?"

Gaara looked at him as if he'd just asked him what his underwear size was.

Naruto looked away. "Erm...yeah, so, I was wondering..."

Gaara gave him a quizzical look.

Naruto cleared his throat. "Right...um...I'll just...go..." he said uncomfortably as he stood up.

"What?" Gaara said suddenly.

Naruto looked down at Gaara. "Huh?"

"You were wondering...what?" Gaara asked.

Naruto was a bit perplexed as he sat back down. "I was wondering...if things got better for you."

"What do you mean?" Gaara asked as he looked at the boy next to him.

"I wanted to know if life got better for you after we fought."

Gaara was silent for a moment as he pondered his answer. "Why?"

"Because we're so alike," Naruto answered quietly.

Gaara stared at the boy next to him, wondering just how on Earth he was like this loudmouth. "What do you mean?" he asked with such urgency that it made Naruto flinch.

"It's hard to explain..."

Gaara could take it no longer. "Tell me! Tell me how someone so happy is like me!!" he demanded desperately.

Naruto looked down. "I had a monster inside of me...too."

Gaara's eyes could not have gotten any wider. His expression melted into one of regretful understanding. "I'm...sorry."

"That's okay. I don't blame you. I might've reacted the same way if..." Images of friends and family flashed through Naruto's mind. "...if I hadn't found people who care about me."

"Which of the biju do you carry?" Gaara asked.

"Well, I used to carry the Kyuubi," Naruto carefully replied.

Gaara's eyes widened again and then his expression changed to confusion. "You don't have it anymore? How was it removed without killing you?"

"He wasn't removed. He died. Orochimaru used a seal jutsu to poison his chakra and then he...Let's just say he hurt me bad enough that when Kyuubi tried to heal me it killed him."

Gaara looked at Naruto for a moment as if studying him. "What was your childhood like?" he asked finally.

"Probably pretty close to yours. People hating me like I was the youma I carried, people trying to kill me and make it look like an accident, people...people calling me...monster..." Naruto answered with his head down so that his hair covered his eyes.

Memories of Suna citizens calling him that exact word flooded Gaara's mind. His expression was a mixture of understanding and pain. "Monster—That is a word I know all too well," he said in a harsh whisper.

Naruto looked straight into Gaara's eyes. "No offense, but it kinda scares me to know the other way I coulda turned out," he said sadly.

Gaara closed his eyes. "Understandable."

"That's why I wanna know what your life is like now. I need to know...if I could've been saved," Naruto said quietly.

Gaara's eyes softened a bit in understanding. He allowed himself a small smile. "Yes."

Naruto smiled in relief. "I'm glad."

"There's something I have wanted to say for a long time now." Gaara took a long breath and looked down. "I wanted to thank you. I...owe you a debt...that I don't think I will ever be able to repay."

Naruto smiled. "Nah. Just knowing that I wouldn't have been past hope is good enough for me."

Gaara looked at Naruto quizzically. "You are a strange person."

"Huh?"

"If someone owed me a debt like the one I owe you, I would ask for much more than piece of mind," Gaara answered.

Naruto grinned. "Well how bout you treat me to ramen then?"

Gaara simply sighed and shook his head in defeat. "Fine then. Find me after your shift is over. Everyone in this village knows what I look like, so you shouldn't have a problem."

"Okay. Ja!" Naruto answered with a quick salute before jumping off toward the tower he'd been in previously.

Gaara stared after the blue and green blur for a moment. "Definitely strange."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Hope you guys liked that. Next chappy will have much action. :) 

Now, I have a request:

If you are someone who watches _**only**_ the english dub please do not review trying to correct me on Naruto facts--Especially on subjects such as the translations of jutsus or dattebyo. VIZ screwed up royally on these aspects of the show. Dattebyo does not mean "believe it". Dattebyo means no more than a pirate's "Aaarrg" or an exclamation point. It emphasizes someone's speech in an effort to sound tough. If you watch the show fansubbed (And I say fansubbed because the US subs still use "believe it" -Grumbles-) and you see that I have made a big mistake somewhere please feel free to, politely, correct me.

Ja na, Songbird21


	5. The Art of Battle

Colors of Life and Death series

Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 5

Hey all. Sorry this chapter took so long. Battles always do with me. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

I went back and rewrote Gaara in the previous chapter. I decided I made him too bitchy the first time out. Also, I change a couple lines from the part in the final chapter of book 1 where Naruto confesses to Hinata. I tried to make it a little less cliché. Hope you like.

**Radioplay news:** I cast a new Sakura (Thank you to all who auditioned) and chapter 3 has a full minute complete. I'll let you all know when it's ready. :)

**Doujin news: **I've pretty much given up on the doujin idea. I haven't heard from my artist in ages and I can't draw. So unless a miracle happens the doujin is dead. However, if any of you would like to submit fanart of any COLAD scenes I will gladly post them on the COLAD homepage for all to see. :) Speaking of which, there's a couple new pieces of art on there. Check 'em out. :)

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

He walked into the Kazekage's office and found Gaara seated to the leader's right. The Kazekage looked up and smiled. "Ah, Naruto. What is it that you need?"

"I was looking for Gaara," Naruto stated. 

The Kazekage held up a finger. "He'll be with you in a moment." He turned back to Gaara. "Now, you do understand that this will not be an easy task to accomplish? More than half of the village still fears you."

"I understand. I will do what is necessary," Gaara said with a hint of a smile.

The Kazekage put his hand on Gaara's shoulder. "Good man," he said with a warm smile.

Gaara nodded and slowly stood to leave. It was as if he were slightly in shock. "Let's go," he said to Naruto as he walked by the blonde.

Naruto remembered the instructions Kakashi had given him and gave the Kazekage a short bow before leaving. "Sorry to interrupt you." Inwardly, he was twitching at having to be so formal, but Kakashi had promised to cut off his ramen supply if he wasn't polite. He and Gaara left the building.

* * *

The buildings all had a rounded finish to them, the streets contained a fair number of people and all the shops were lit. Naruto watched Gaara as the sand nin walked. He seemed to be in deep thought and it left Naruto wondering. "Neh, Gaara?" 

Gaara didn't look at him. "Hm?"

"What was the Kazekage talking about?"

"Don't you ever leave people to their own business?" Gaara asked in irritation.

Naruto sighed. "You're right...Sorry."

They passed a street light and Gaara spoke again. "I'm not going to be a jounin..." he stated in a far off voice.

Naruto frowned. He had been jealous of Gaara's potential promotion. Now he felt like a jerk. "I'm sorry."

"He asked me to succeed him as Kazekage..." Gaara nearly whispered.

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled, causing Gaara to wince.

"Must you be so loud?" Gaara grumbled.

They walked past a roughly six year old little girl in a flowered kimono splashing in a puddle. She had looked up when she heard Naruto's loud protest and saw Gaara. Her eyes went wide, then she dropped her odango and screamed before running away. "MOMMYYYYYY!!"

Gaara closed his eyes and sighed. "But with reactions like that, I don't see how that's possible."

"Well, his decision is final isn't it?" Naruto offered.

"Not without the approval of the council," Gaara countered. He suddenly looked contemplative. "I wonder if things would have been different if he had been my father."

"He took over after your dad was killed, right?" Naruto asked carefully.

"Nhm," Gaara said. They came upon a large restaurant with a neon sign on the front. The sign was a bowl of ramen with a chicken relaxing in it like a hot spring. Words under the sign read: 'The Ramen Farm'. "We're here," Gaara said and then headed inside.

* * *

The inside of The Ramen Farm lived up to its name. The walls looked like those of a barn and there was farm paraphernalia everywhere. The tables were a light-colored wood and the "chairs" were bales of hay. "This place is great!" Naruto exclaimed. 

Suddenly a timid man with dark hair and glasses was in front of the pair. "G-G-G-Gaara-sama," he bowed low, "p-please forgive me for not showing you to a table the moment you walked in!"

Naruto took Gaara's sigh and rolling of his eyes to mean that this sort of thing happened a lot and decided to help. "Aw, you don't have to worry about him anymore," he said with a grin. The restaurant manager's eyes went wide as dinner plates as he watched Gaara carefully—trying to look for signs of an attack, "He's a good-guy now," he said with a thumbs up.

The poor manager looked like he would pass out from fear at any second and then...

"Could you just show us to a table, please?" Gaara said with his arms folded and a look of exasperation.

The manager cleared his throat in order to calm his nerves. "O...Of course, Gaara-sama. Right this way please."

Naruto and Gaara followed the manager as he led them to a table near the back. They sat down and the manager turned to them. "Your waitress will be with you in a moment," he said with a smile before leaving the boys by themselves.

"So, you get that a lot?" Naruto asked as he picked up the menu.

"Yeah," Gaara replied just as a waitress with her black hair tied up like dango greeted them.

"H-Hello, Gaara-sama," said the nervous girl.

Without looking up from his menu, Gaara replied, "Konbonwa, Kurumi-san."

Kurumi's pen and order pad promptly fell from her hands to the floor. For a moment she stood there, open-mouthed. _"He said my name...Since when does he remember my name?"_ She let out a calming breath. _"Alright Kurumi-chan—step one accomplished. Now I just have to get him to talk to me. Yeah, right. Like that'll ever happen."_ She picked up her belongings and swallowed. "Konbonwa t-to you too, G-Gaara-sama," she said with a smile.

Gaara looked up in surprise. Never before had he heard this girl say more than her name. "I will have the pork ramen with sushi and get my companion whatever he wants."

Kurumi looked over at Naruto. _"Oh my God, he's cute,"_ she thought with a blush. _"Down girl, it's Gaara-sama you like."_

"I'll have...ummm...Aw heck with it. I'll have one of everything!" Naruto said with a grin.

For the first time in his life a look of wide-eyed surprise and trepidation graced Gaara's features.

Kurumi looked at her crush and suppressed a giggle. "I-Is that okay, Gaara-sama?"

Gaara's face returned to normal as he considered his answer. "Yeah."

Kurumi smiled. "Okay." She almost walked away but stopped. "And Gaara-sama?" She leaned over to Gaara's ear. "I'm glad you have a friend," she whispered happily. She walked away, leaving a very perplexed Gaara in her wake.

Gaara looked over at Naruto, who now wore a look of utter amusement. "What?"

"She likes you," Naruto teased.

Gaara cocked an eyebrow. "I think you're seeing things."

Just then Kurumi returned with some sodas. "Here you are," she said cheerfully as she handed one to Naruto. She turned to Gaara, her cheeks gaining a bit of extra color. "And this one's for you, Gaara-sama."

Gaara took the drink. "Arigato."

Naruto chuckled softly. "She definitely likes you."

Gaara shot Naruto a look of irritation and then sighed. "Even if she did like me, I wouldn't pursue her."

"Why? She's really cute."

"Think, Naruto—what would happen to her if she was seen holding hands with me?" Gaara said sadly.

A look of realization crossed Naruto's face and he looked down. "Oh..."

Gaara looked up to see several wait staff coming toward them with trays.

The first plates were set down in from of them and Naruto happily cracked his chopsticks. "Itadakimasu!"

* * *

Naruto happily patted his rounded belly as he exited the restaurant. "Thanks, Gaara! That place was awesome!" 

Kurumi's voice entered Gaara's head. _(("I'm glad you found a friend."))_ "Neh, Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"What's it like...to have friends?" Gaara asked.

The question took Naruto by surprise, but he quickly regained his cheerfulness. "Just like this," he exclaimed as he waved a hand at Gaara.

Gaara was startled. "Like this? You mean...you consider me a friend?"

Naruto smiled. "Sure. Why not?"

"I tried to kill you. I tried to kill your friends. Why would you want to be friends with me?" Gaara asked seriously.

Naruto's face took on a slightly more serious visage. "Because we're the same."

Gaara shook his head. "But even that shouldn't be enough for you to forgive me for the things I've done."

"Yeah. But I also know that you wouldn't have done them if your life had been better...If you'd had friends," Naruto explained with a compassionate smile.

"I see."

"So how bout it?" Naruto asked with his hand held out. "Friends?"

Gaara looked at Naruto's hand for a moment before grabbing it. "Sure," he said with a smile. _"Well, this will be interesting."_

* * *

She was getting tired. Hinata'd had her Byakugan activated for almost a half hour now. She was about to turn it off when she noticed two genjutsu disguised figures kneeling behind some trees. "Sasuke, I see some suspicious people." 

Sasuke kept his composure. "How far out are they?"

"Around eight hundred feet," Hinata said with a smile to hide her unease. She was also careful to make sure her mouth was not at what would be the proper position for lip reading.

"I'll inform the Kazekage. You keep an eye on them," Sasuke instructed.

"Hai," Hinata replied.

Sasuke leapt away, leaving a nervous Hinata to watch the potential attackers.

* * *

"Naruto-kun!" 

Naruto and Gaara looked behind them to see Sakura moving toward them at top speed. "Sakura-chan?"

"Hinata spotted something!" Sakura said as she skidded to a halt, leaving wispy trails of dust in her wake. "They're sending out Kankuro as a scout. Kazekage-sama wants us to stay casual, but find something to do near the east side of the village—just in case."

Naruto looked at Gaara. "What's there to do on the east side?"

Gaara thought for a moment, trying desperately to come up with an idea that didn't involve food. He didn't want to empty his wallet any further than he had to. He finally sighed in defeat. "There's an ice cream shop that's not far from the wall."

"Ice...cream?" Naruto repeated as though testing out the unfamiliar word.

Gaara cocked an eye ridge. "Just how backwards _is_ Konoha?"

Naruto shot Gaara a glare. "We're not backwards!"

"Naruto, any other village is modern enough to have the new things that come from the west. It's a dessert," Gaara explained with a small smile of amusement.

Naruto was fuming, but Sakura put her hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Naruto-kun—let's try it. It might be good," she said with a calming smile.

"Fine..." Naruto folded his arms and pouted a little. "...but we're still not backwards."

* * *

Naruto stared curiously at the sign on the building in front of him. It had a picture of a blob of colorful...something, sitting on top of what looked like a waffle. He felt a hand tugging on his sleeve. "Will you quite staring and come on?" Sakura chided. 

Naruto blinked back his thoughts and followed the others into the shop.

* * *

She tensely watched Kankuro's outline as he moved through the trees. Once in a while she would look, without turning her head, at the two people she had seen earlier. They had moved a bit closer, but had otherwise remained unchanged in their actions. Hinata had been told to keep an eye on the puppet user just in case things went sour, but she was still uncomfortable. "Are you sure he'll be alright by himself?" She asked Sasuke. 

Sasuke frowned. "I don't know—but sending out only one scout keeps the risk of discovery low, so it's unavoidable."

Hinata sighed and resumed her watch.

* * *

Kankuro was confident in his fighting ability, but he still wasn't thrilled with the idea of possibly being forced to face Akatsuki members by himself, should he be discovered. He sent his puppet ahead, looked around with it for a moment and rejoined it when he was sure the coast was clear. He repeated this pattern until he was near the area Hinata had said the intruders occupied. He scanned the forest floor. _"Alright, now where are you?"_

"Someone's watching us," Sasori said with no real interest in his voice.

Deidara smiled. "We gonna go after him, Sasori no Danna (A/N- Master Sasori)?"

"Of course. You can do it if you like," Sasori replied as he continued observing the village.

"You bet—yeah," Deidara said as he made a small clay spider and sent it on its way.

* * *

Hinata's eyes widened when she saw the odd looking spider-thing climbing up the tree. "Sasuke-san! Kankuro is in danger!" she whispered sharply. 

"Do we have time to get to him?!" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know."

"You find Naruto! I'll tell the anbu captain!" Sasuke leapt away. As he sailed over the rooftops his mind drifted to a thought that made his heart pound fiercely. _"If it's Itachi...this might be my chance..."_

* * *

_  
_

Kankuro's face crinkled into a calculating frown as he caught sight of his quarry. _"Damn. It is Akatsuki."_ He was about to leap from his perch and head back to the village when he felt something crawling on his leg. He looked down. _"A spider?"_ As the arachnid climbed higher he noticed it seemed very unnatural and suddenly realized it was some kind of attack. _"SHIT!"_ The spider exploded and Kankuro, covered in flames, fell to the ground.

* * *

He stared at the brown lump in the bowl in front of him and then at the tiny spoon in his hand. "How the heck am I supposed to get any food to stay on this thing?" Naruto asked as he pointed to the western spoon. 

"You scoop," Gaara stated plainly. Just then, Sakura took a bite of her vanilla and her eyes widened for just a moment before she began rapidly eating spoonful after spoonful.

Naruto looked at her in shock. Sakura had always been so lady-like anytime they'd eaten together. "Sakura-chan?"

Gaara cocked an eye ridge. "Sakura, I strongly suggest you don't eat that so fast."

"Why?" Naruto asked.

Suddenly, Sakura dropped her spoon and her hands flew to her forehead. "Ahhhh!" she cried in pain.

Naruto was instantly concerned. "Sakura-chan!" he yelled as he grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Naruto. It happens when a person doesn't give their head time to adjust to the cold by eating too quickly. It will pass in a moment," Gaara explained calmly.

Sakura slowly removed one of her hands and groaned. "So, if I eat slower that won't happen?" she asked hoarsely.

"Right," Gaara replied just before taking a bite of his strawberry ice cream.

As Sakura resumed _slowly_ eating her ice cream, Naruto tried to take a scoop of his chocolate—it slid off the spoon and straight down his shirt. "Gyah!" he said as he shook out the offending lump of cold. He frowned at his bowl and took another scoop—this one made it to his mouth. His eyes widened and smiled. "This stuff is _awesome_!" He had only taken around four bites when Hinata burst into the shop.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out as she caught site of him. "Kankuro-san is in danger!" she said through her slightly heavy breathing.

Gaara's head snapped upwards. "Kankuro?!" With an expression that was full of concern, he turned to Naruto. "Naruto, let's go!"

Naruto nodded sharply. "Hai!"

Hinata turned around and bolted for the meeting spot beside the tower she and Sasuke had been posted to. Naruto and Gaara followed her closely.

Gaara gritted his teeth. He was angry that he allowed himself to be sidetracked. _"Kankuro, hang on!"_

* * *

Kankuro dragged himself out of the bindings that had held him on the back of his puppet. His forehead was bleeding and he had a few second degree burns. "Damn it! What the hell was that thing!?" he growled. He heard a footstep behind him and grimaced. _"Shit!"_

A smiling Deidara stepped in front of Kankuro. "Wasn't it beautiful?" He clenched his fist in pride. "The grace of the spider and the raw power of an explosion. It's perfect art—yeah."

Kankuro took his opponent's gloating as a chance to act. He flicked one of his fingers and his puppet shot forward. Deidara dodged backwards into the trees. "Impressive—yeah. I thought you'd be down for the count, but you used that puppet as a shield—yeah." He smiled. "It'll be nice to fight a fellow artist. It's almost a shame you have to die—yeah."

"_Damn, he's fast. I'll need to plan a little further ahead."_

Deidara put some of his clay into the mouth in his hand. A moment later five clay birds were flying towards Kankuro. He managed to dodge them before Deidara made them explode, but the concussive force of the bombs still sent him flying sideways. He hit the ground hard.

Deidara frowned. "Maybe fighting you won't be so interesting. It's disappointing—yeah." Suddenly, six small puppets in the form of praying mantises flew out from the trees and began slicing at Deidara with the blades attached to their sickle-like arms. He began grabbing them and throwing them off, but they kept coming back, so he smashed them together instead. It was only a few moments before all the puppets were destroyed. "You'll have to do better than that—yeah."

Kankuro smirked. "Look around you."

Deidara's eyes widened in shock just before the ninja wire that had encircled him (Thanks to Kankuro's puppets) was pulled tight, sending him hurtling toward the waiting open belly of Kankuro's main puppet. He quickly threw a bird bomb into it and the resulting explosion pushed him backwards out of harms way. He was smiling as he pushed himself to his feet, wincing a bit as the pain of his newly broken rib hit him. "You'll pay for that—yeah."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Ugh. My brain hurts. Battles make me think too much. Lol. Please let me know what you thought. 


	6. Force

Colors of Life and Death series

Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 6

* * *

I know the chapter is a little shorter than normal (Especially after taking so long) but I need to post _something_ after all this time. I didn't want you guys to think I had quit on this (Which I NEVER will). Plus this gives me time to make chap 7 a better length. I've had a LOT going on the past 2 months, which is why this chapter took so long.

Enjoy all. :)

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Several small birds suddenly flew from the mouths on Deidara's hands toward Kankuro who, having no time to react, braced himself for the oncoming pain. The birds hit and Deidara smiled. His smile dropped quickly, however, when he noticed the thin wall of sand becoming visible as the smoke dissipated. He looked to his right to see a very angry Gaara flanked by two jounin and several lower ranked ninja, including a certain spiky blonde that he recognized from the Akatsuki's target photos. _"The niji chakra kid. This could get tough—hmm."_

Sasori's voice sounded from behind Deidara. "A Jinchuuriki and the science experiment. Should be interesting," he said.

Deidara looked at Sasori. "What should we do Sasori no Danna?"

Sasori took a step forward. "We fight."

* * *

The Kazekage waited impatiently for the rest of his troops to emerge from the sprawling village. Several chuunin jumped up to the tops of the group of buildings near the cliff. He scanned them. There were only twenty. _"What a time to be short-handed"_ He let out a large breath. "Alright! Let's go!"

A resounding affirmative shout sounded throughout the ranks just before they all jumped onto the cliff and began to run.

* * *

Deidara smirked. "Hmm." He took his hand out of the clay pouch he carried and released a small bird onto the rocky ground. He used a seal and the bird grew large enough that he could ride it. He jumped on and took off into the sky.

Gaara looked to his elder brother. "Kankuro—are you alright?"

Kankuro nodded. "Nhm."

"Good." Gaara set his jaw. "Then I'm going bird hunting." With that, sand roared upwards. He leapt onto it as it flashed past and set off in pursuit of Deidara.

Sasori saw the Kazekage and roughly twenty more troops join Gaara's. "Well now—that makes things almost even," he said with a smile in his voice. He reached into the folds of his cloak, pulled out a scroll and unrolled it with a fluid flick of his wrist. His hand formed a seal and several popping noises were heard, followed by a large cloud of smoke, which dissipated to reveal ten humanoid puppets. His opponents drew their weapons and fell into battle stances. "Now then, let's dance, shall we?"

* * *

Gaara floated on his carpet of sand, arms folded—glaring at Deidara as if daring him to move. _"What's he waiting for?"_ he thought.

Deidara kept a wary eye on Gaara as his hand mouths finished their work. _"Damn. I didn't bring much clay to begin with and that puppet guy made me use almost a quarter of it."_ He looked down as the mouths spit out their finished products. _"It's time. I'll have to take him down fast—hmm."_ He shot forward, throwing the birds he had made as he went. One after another, Gaara's sand crushed them into pulp.

"Hmpf. Is that it?" Gaara said with a small smirk. His guard sand shot forward again and again, barely missing the clay user. He raised his hands and a wall of sand came rising from the desert terrain that blasted towards Deidara in the shape of Shukaku's claws.

"_Shit."_ Deidara thought as he narrowly escaped the attacks aimed at him. He pulled an aerial u-turn and shot out several larger birds as soon as he was facing the right direction again.

Gaara frowned as he blocked the explosives. _"They're getting faster."_

* * *

Sasori's tail shot forward in an attempt to impale Naruto. Naruto dodged with a back flip and landed fifteen feet from his previous position. The Kazekage didn't like the looks of the stinger on the end of the tail. "Everyone—watch yourselves—that tail is most likely poisoned!" he shouted. "Use ranged attacks as much as possible!"

Kakashi looked at the puppets and noticed they all had similar 'stingers' in various places. _"Shit. Looks like they're all poisoned. This is bad."_ He turned to his right. "Sakura, we may need your medical techniques more than originally planned—Are you up to it?"

Sakura nodded sharply. "Umh!"

Hinata jumped on top of a large rock in order to dodge the needle-like claws of one of the puppets. _"What should I do? All of my attacks are close range and jyuken won't work on puppets."_ She back flipped off the rock as Sasori's tail smashed the top of it to rubble.

The Kazekage was suddenly in front of Sasori, blocking Hinata from view. "I will be your opponent!"

"It really doesn't make a difference. All of you are going to die," Sasori calmly stated.

A Suna chuunin screamed as one of Sasori's puppets ripped a chunk out of his side with its razor sharp, metal teeth. The Kazekage's eyes momentarily flickered in that direction and he nearly paid for it with his life. Sasori's stinger came within an inch of his leg as he hopped backwards out of its reach.

In his side vision, Naruto noticed the Kazekage pull a pair of twin katana from the scabbards on his back. As the Kazekage slid into a taijutsu form Naruto's eyes widened. _"That stance!"_ An image of the girl he had killed in Ganshou flashed in his mind.

"Danshingu kaze no jutsu!" A swirl of wind embedded with chakra pushed the Kazekage about two feet into the air. He pointed his feet and the chakra began to spin him.

In his minds eye, Naruto saw an image of the girl moving in synch with the man in front of him as though the two were one person. _"She was from the sand?!"_

As the swords spun Sasori tried to use his stinger, but the swords were pulsing with chakra and made deep gouges in the tail as they knocked it away. _"Hmm. Seems I need to change tactics." _He jabbed his tail into the soft sand. It emerged underneath his opponent, aiming for his leg.

The Kazekage had noticed Sasori's tail go down and by the time it had come back up he had used the wind as a springboard to launch himself fifteen feet in the air. He landed artfully eight feet away. _"That tail is a serious problem. I need to take it out of commission."_

* * *

Baki opened up the large, heavy door that was the entrance to an old building that sat upon the high cliff. After a short walk through a hallway he arrived at another door, which he stared at for a moment. "I hope they're still alive."

* * *

A very ancient looking old man watched with indifference as his equally ancient sister fished the small pool of water in the middle of the dome shaped room in vain. "You'll never catch anything, you know."

The sister didn't move. "True enough. But if you know of something better to do, then please enlighten me," she replied.

The old man sighed. "Point taken." He suddenly cocked his head to one side. "Well I'll be damned..."

"Too late," the sister interrupted.

The old man glared at his sister. "As I was a-_bout_ to say...we have a guest."

The sister opened her eyes more than the slits they had been previously and looked to the door. "Indeed."

The door creaked open and in stepped Baki. He walked toward them. "Honored siblings, I have come to seek your aid."

"I have no wish to leave this room. Please be on your way," the sister said as she jiggled the line of her fishing pole a bit in order to entice fish that didn't exist.

Baki bowed low. "Onegai, Chiyo-sama. We are under attack. It's Sasori..." he said with emphasis.

Chiyo cocked an eyebrow and looked at her brother. "Well, it looks like I may be able to see my grandson again after all." She slowly rose to her feet and turned to Baki. "Let's go then."

* * *

Bug swarms exploded forward out of Shino's sleeves and surrounded the puppet facing himself and two sand nins. They landed on the puppet and worked themselves into the joints. After a moment, the puppet was unable to move. "Now!" Shino commanded.

The sand jounin put their hands into a seal. "Kaze no Yaiba!" they shouted in chorus. Blades of wind sliced through the puppet, thoroughly turning it into kindling.

Sasuke tried to make his Chidori hit, but he hadn't worked much on his speed since the chuunin exam finals and the puppet was fast. "Damn you! Hold still!" he said angrily as he went in for a second shot. He grazed the puppet's side—taking off an arm—but his second shot had still been wasted.

Kiba managed to roll backwards just in time to avoid losing his manhood to the end of the sharp sword that protruded from the ground where he had been moments ago. "That was way too close." He looked to his fighting companion. "Let's go, Akamaru!" The small white dog, who's size had nearly increased by one half in the last six months, jumped onto his friend's back. "Juujuin Bunshin!" Kiba called out. Both he and Akamaru were transformed into the more beastly version of himself. "Gatsuuga!" He and Akamaru spun at lighting speed, diving at the puppet again and again.

A Suna gennin saw Kiba and she ran towards him to help. Boar, rat, snake. "Kuikkusando no jutsu!" The sand under the puppet became quicksand and it sank in just enough to give Kiba and Akamaru time to strike together. The puppet shattered from the impact.

Kiba dispelled his jutsu. "Nice trick. Thanks," he said with a smile.

The chuunin grinned. "No problem!" Suddenly, she heard a rumbling sound behind her. One of the puppets burst out of the sand and stabbed her through the chest from behind. She looked at the blood covered blade in horror. "No...I haven't even made...chuunin. I c-can't die...y...y..." She slumped forward and all life left her body.

Kiba watched in horror as the puppet removed its blade and dropped the mid-teenaged girl's corpse to the ground. "You bastard!" he yelled angrily, prepared to attack.

Just at that moment Kakashi's Raikiri split the offending puppet in two. He looked down at the dead girl and sighed. "I'm sorry I was too late."

"She helped me take one of them down," Kiba said sadly.

Kakashi clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Let's make sure her death wasn't in vain then."

Kiba nodded. "Hnm!" He and Kakashi took off in different directions.

An explosion rocked the battlefield and Sakura looked at the carnage in confusion. "How did this happen?" She immediately began looking for survivors to heal.

* * *

Gaara stared with gritted teeth at the spot where Deidara's bomb had hit. He'd been dodging a barrage that had been sent his way when Deidara took the opportunity to throw a bomb down on a group of eight Suna nins who had regrouped in the same spot. As a precautionary measure, Gaara erected a sand barrier between them and the group fighting below.

Deidara frowned. "You took away some of my canvas." He sighed. "No matter. They're not my target anyway—hmm." he dodged another barrage of sand and retaliated with a flock of seven small birds.

Gaara blocked the birds and used his gourd sand to chase Deidara again. He managed to close the sand around the other man's arm. "Sabaku Kyuu!" The sand tightened its grip. "Sabaku SouSou!" The sand crushed Deidara's arm—ripping it off as he tried to get away.

"AHHHGH!" Deidara screamed. After a moment he regained his composure as he used a small fire bomb to cauterize the wound. "Looks like I have to use 'that'—hmm." From the folds of his cloak he produced a much larger version of the bombs he'd been using earlier. "This is my special—C3! Your village will be the ultimate canvas—hmm." He let the bomb slip from his hand. It rocketed toward the village, increasing in size on the way down.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Yes yes, I know I stole a bit from part 2 of the manga and pulled stuff in WAY early, but I'd written myself into a corner and needed a way out. At least the battle isn't going exactly like the manga.

New art on the COLAD fanart page. Check it out!

I know Deidara screaming is OOC, but I honestly think his reaction to having his arm ripped off was a bit too calm in the manga. I mean, the guy didn't even flinch.

Please review!

Ja na,  
Song


	7. To Save My Friend

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 7

Well, at least it took less than last time. -Hides- No review responses this chapter. I just don't have the time. Enjoy:)

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

The sound of the explosion when the bomb hit was deafening. But as the smoke cleared it became evident that it had failed to hit its target. Gaara had extended the sand shield that he had put over the battle earlier in order to encompass the village as well. He frowned when he noticed his opponent was still smiling. He caught the tiniest glimpse of a bird bomb in his peripheral vision and barely had time to put up a shield made of his gourd sand to guard against it. _"That was close."_

The people on the ground looked up at the massive sand ceiling in awe. Standing in front of the Ramen Barn, Kurumi smiled with pride. "Gaara-sama..."

Back in the sky, Deidara smirked.

Gaara, who was now encased in his protective sand shell, was breathing heavily; Concentrating on so many things at once was difficult. He heard an odd scratching sound to his right and turned his head. Several clay spiders were crawling out of his guard sand. "Shit!"

Deidara's smile widened. He whispered under his breath as he brought his hand up in a seal. "Bang..." The spiders exploded--expanding the shell of sand around Gaara in several small pockets.

Kankuro noticed the sand that surrounded his little brother had begun to fall away. "GAARA!" The puppet Kankuro had been fighting took the opportunity to stab its stinger through the puppet master's leg. "GYAAAAH!" he screamed. As the enemy puppet rounded on him again a Suna jounin grabbed him and pulled him out of harms way.

The Jounin laid Kankuro down behind a large rock, checked over the wound, and then used some of his arm wrappings as a dressing. "It's bad," he said as he tied off the bandage, "but I think you'll be alright. I'll look for that Konoha med nin."

Kankuro nodded. "Thank you, Kesshouryuu." He suddenly remembered what had distracted him. "Gaara...Help Gaara," he pleaded.

Kesshouryuu nodded. "Nhm," he confirmed before leaping away. _"But before that, you need help."_

* * *

Temari was very frustrated. She couldn't use most of her more powerful attacks for fear of hitting someone on her side. She was restricted to creating small blasts of air to knock the puppets off balance so her allies had an easier time attacking them. 

Kesshouryuu showed up at Temari's side. "Temari-dono! Kankuro-dono has been injured!"

Temari whipped her face around to meet him. "What?!"

"It's not life threatening...yet. I need to find the Konoha medic. Do you know where she is?"

"No, but I'll help look!" Temari answered.

Both ninjas shot off in different directions in search of Sakura.

* * *

Sakura looked over the last of the Suna nins that were splayed across the landscape in various undignified positions. "Damn it! Not one that I can help!" she said angrily. 

She was running back to the battle when she noticed a young chuunin's body on the ground. She had been impaled through the chest. Sakura sighed. "Poor thing." She was just about to continue on her way when she saw the girl's finger twitch and gasped. "She's still alive?!" Sakura dove to the ground and gently rolled the girl over. _"She's lost a lot of blood, but the blade only pierced her right lung."_ She fired up her healing jutsu. "Please...let me save at least one."

* * *

Gaara's vision was going out of focus but he stuck out his hand anyway and began, with great effort, to pull the sand back away from his barriers. He had to make sure the sand didn't fall and hurt anyone. It was like seeing a tidal wave in reverse. 

Deidara just stood on his bird's back and watched; curious to see if his opponent could pull off what he was apparently trying to do.

* * *

Naruto looked up just in time to see the last of the sand falling away from his friend. "Gaara..." His face hardened and he ran towards the cliff edge while putting his hands into his favorite seal. He created a clone and, then turned himself into a fuma (shadow) shurukin. The clone threw him with all its might, disappearing once its job was done. He rocketed toward his falling friend, dispelling the henge once he felt he was close enough.

* * *

Deidara and his bird waited patiently under his target. Gaara began to fall and Deidara sighed in relief. "Finally--hmm." Just before Gaara was about to land on the tail of the bird a blue and green streak came through and snatched away Deidara's prize. "What?!" At first he thought the Gaara had fallen to his death but then he felt a jolt as some unseen force pulled his bird downwards a bit. He looked over the side to see what had happened and his eyes went wide with surprise. Naruto had created a large number of kage bunshins just as he had caught Gaara. One bunshin had its hands clasped tightly around the legs of the clay bird and the other bunshins had made a chain out of themselves. At the end of the chain Naruto held onto the last bunshin and he and Gaara were using the chain to swing safely back down to the main battle zone. 

Deidara glared as Naruto let go of the end of the clone chain and landed. "Oh no you don't--hmm!" He thrust his hand into his clay bag...only to find it empty. "Tch!" He looked down at the ongoing battle. "Sasori-no-dana...gomen." He turned around and began to fly out of the village. "I'm never going to hear the end of this...hmm."

* * *

Sasori watched his partner fly off. _"That idiot must've run out of clay. I __**told**__ him to bring more!"_ He looked back at the battle around him. _"I may actually be forced to show myself at this rate. Finally, a challenge."_

The Kazekage flashed through a series of seals. "Kaze no Yaiba!" Wind blasted forward, slicing through the puppet from every conceivable direction. "I put chakra blades into that wind. You're done," he said with satisfaction.

"You are overly confident," Sasori said from under the kindling that used to be his puppet.

The Kazekage's eyes widened and he jumped backward a bit just in case. "How?!"

Out of the puppet's remains rose what appeared to be a young man. "I told you...you're over confident!" Sasori unrolled a scroll and touched his hand to it. "I'll show you my finest puppet. It was quite difficult, killing this one in order to add it to my collection.--But that's why he's my favorite." He touched his hand to the scroll. There was a puff of smoke and when it cleared there was a puppet standing in front of the Kazekage that made his blood run cold.

"But...that's impossible!" the Kazekage exclaimed. He heard a footstep to his left and was surprised at who it was. "Ch...Chiyo-sama!"

"So, it was you Sasori. You're the reason the Sandaime Kazekage disappeared!" Chiyo said icily.

* * *

Naruto laid Gaara down on the sand about sixty meters from the battle and his hand went to Gaara's wrist to check his pulse. "I think his pulse is steady, but I'm no med nin. I need to find Sakura-chan." He stood up. "Wait for just a little while. I'll be back soon!"

* * *

Sakura wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Come on. C'mon!" The heartbeat of the girl that Sakura had been trying to heal had become erratic. "Damn. There's no time to heal the surface wounds and her lung. What can I...?" Sakura sucked in a breath. "A seal!" She pulled a piece of paper out of the side pouch on her med kit and drew a seal on it. She held her hand over the seal and it began to glow as she infused it with chakra. When she lifted her hand the seal moved with it and she put her hand over the girl's chest. Finding her target wouldn't be a problem as it was obvious the damaged part of the lung would be right underneath the hole. _"Slowly, sloooowly."_ Sweat beaded on her face as she placed the seal on the lung. Once it made contact it sizzled and duplicated itself on the other side of the organ, effectively creating a patch of sorts. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, now for the surface." 

"Sakura-san!" Kesshouryuu yelled as he ran toward. All he got from her was a loud 'SHH!'.

Sakura had the girl on her side so that she could work on both the entry and exit wounds at the same.

Naruto came running up to them, but stayed silent. He knew better than to interrupt Sakura when she was working.

Finally, Sakura sighed. "She's to the point where conventional medicine can help her." She looked up at Kesshouryuu. "Can you take her to the hospital?"

Kesshouryuu nodded. "Yes, but I need you to help Kankuro-dono. He has a large wound through his leg."

"Wait," Naruto interrupted, "Gaara's hurt too, and he's unconscious."

"Okay, I'll take care of Gaara first. Hurry with her and show me where Kankuro is when you get back," Sakura instructed.

"Hai." Kesshouryuu cradled the young chuunin carefully in his arms and ran off towards the village.

* * *

Tsunade sighed as she stood at the door to Haruka's room. She felt silly doing this, but Naruto had been very insistent and she didn't want to disappoint him. She opened the door and walked toward the bed. "Hi. I'm Naruto's mom. He uh...asked me to visit you while he was away," she said as she put the flower she held into the vase by the bed. She sighed and smiled. "You must have been very special, for Naruto to love you as much as he does. I hope you wake up one day...for his sake." 

As her hand closed around the doorknob, Tsunade suddenly felt a fluctuation in Haruka's chakra and turned right around. She pulled a small penlight from her pants pocket and checked Haruka's pupil dilation. Tsunade's breath hitched in her throat. "My god...she's responsive."

* * *

Sakura finished her work and sat down on the warm sand. "I've healed all the damage, but I think he'll be out for a few more hours." She saw Kesshouryuu running toward her and Naruto. "Good timing. I just finished." She got to her feet. "Lead the way." 

"I'll be back later, Gaara. Right now I got some butt to kick," Naruto said with a feral grin and then ran back to the battle.

* * *

As Hinata dodged she began to wonder why she had come at all. She was useless unless she could get in close and all kaiten did was knock the puppets back. _"I need to do something!"_ she thought in frustration. Suddenly her eyes widened with memory. _"My new jutsu!"_ But her enthusiasm quickly faded. _"But what if it's not ready?"_ An image of Naruto and his golden smile flashed through her mind. (("Ganbatte, Hinata-chan.")) Her resolve instantly returned. She moved into stance where she stood straight, eyes closed, with one arm down at her side and her left hand in a seal up in front of her face. "Tsuin tenrai uchimono!" 

As chakra streamed from her fingertips her hands began to move in sharp, swift cutting motions. The puppet charged but it didn't have a chance. Hinata's chakra blades had nearly ten foot range before dissipating. The puppet's wooden body was in several large pieces in less than thirty seconds. Though panting for breath, Hinata looked at the result of her training with a rare smile of pride. _"I did it, Naruto-kun."_

* * *

The Kazekage looked at Chiyo with wide eyes. "Y...you mean that puppet is..." he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence because of the horror that the end of it implied. 

Chiyo's glared deepened. "Yes, he's turned Sandaime-sama...into a puppet."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Okay, now as far as the radioplay is concerned, my narrator (FullMetal Ai) had some mic problems but she has assured me that she will have at least some of them to me by Monday. Which means I may get out the first half of chapter 3 by next Saturday, but don't quote me on that. 

About Haruka. I won't answer any questions about her fate so don't bother asking.

Starting Monday I will be taking ticket requests for a raffle I'm holding. The prize? A custom My Little Pony designed in whatever way your heart desires! Check out my profile for more details. :)

And now, since I have to get up at 5:30am to drive to Kentucky for vacation, I bid you all a fond oyasumi. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.


	8. Sugikon

Sorry again guys. I was just really having a hard time with this chappy. Please read the author's notes at the end. Enjoy :)

* * *

Chiyo clenched her teeth as she franticly searched through her mind for any solution to the current situation that wouldn't involve her death._ "Just Sasori was bad enough, but if I'm right about what kind of puppet that is then we are in deep trouble." _She turned to the Kazekage. "Takaifuujin, I'm going to need help." 

Takaifuujin nodded. "Nhm!"

Kesshouryuu walked up next to Takaifuujin. "We're with you too, Kazekage-sama."

Takaifuujin took a quick look around and noticed that all the previous puppets had been destroyed. He also noticed that eight of his original team were still standing and so were most of the Konoha nins. He smiled. "Thank you, Kesshouryuu, but considering the poison he uses I think you all should stay back. Only enter the fight if Chiyo-sama and I have failed."

Kesshouryuu didn't look happy about it but did as he was commanded to. "Hai, Kazekage-sama."

Naruto returned to the fight to find the Kazekage and an elderly woman he'd never seen before standing in front of the enemy--surrounded by their allies. _"Why the hell aren't they attacking?"_ he wondered as he ran to Hinata's side. "Hina-chan, what's going on?"

"Kazekage-sama told everyone to act only as back up," Hinata said with a tone that clearly said she wanted to help.

Naruto let out a puff of air. "Well, then that's what we gotta do," he said darkly.

Hinata looked at him with surprise. The boy she loved wasn't known for being so mature in this kind of situation. "Nhm," she said with a bit of pride.

Dog, dragon, horse. "Suna goremu no jutsu!(A/N-Sand golem technique)" A humanoid sand creature emerged behind Takaifuujin.

Sasori smirked. "Hmf. What are you going to do with that? You should know that's too slow to get anywhere near me."

Sasori's Sandaime puppet shot forward, its right arm opening up into a nasty array of bladed weapons. Just a foot or so before these blades made contact something rushed in front of them, blocking them from their intended target. Now it was Takaifuujin's turn to smirk. "Heh."

Sasori glared at the golem as it held back his puppet's blades. "That's impossible!"

"By itself, a golem is slow, but with a puppeteer controlling it..." Takaifuujin turned to look at Chiyo. Chakra strings, emanating from her fingertips, were attached to the golem.

"Like that'll make a difference!" Sasori yelled. The puppet's left arm flipped open and several kunai shot out at once. The golem blocked every one of them, but just barely. "Heh. You're getting slow in your old age grandma!"

"Don't get cocky, Kiddo! I taught you everything you know!" Chiyo countered as she used the golem to knock back the puppet.

Suddenly Takaifuujin began to feel woozy. "What the...?" he said weakly as he put a hand on his forehead.

"So, it's finally taken effect," Sasori said with satisfaction.

"I'm...poisoned? But," Takaifuujin stumbled a bit as his golem dispersed back into the sand it came from, "how? I never got cut."

"Did you think all my puppets were easily seen?" Sasori smiled. "Lift up your right sleeve."

Takaifuujin moved his sleeve and there, on his arm, was a tiny scorpion puppet. "Shit!" He fell down in a sitting position on the sand. "I'm sorry, Chiyo-sama...but it looks like I'm out of this fight." He fell over onto his side and slipped into unconsciousness.

Chiyo pulled two scrolls out of her sleeves and unrolled them. Two popping noises sounded and when the smoke cleared, two puppets appeared in front of the aging puppet master. One was female and the other was male. "I didn't think Takai-kun would have been taken out so easily. I really didn't want to have to use these two."

Sasori cocked an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? Those were the first two puppets I ever made." Memories of those very same puppets holding him in comfort when he was little flooded his mind. "Hmpf. Mother...and father. How stupid of you. I know all their tricks!"

Both Sasori's and Chiyo's puppets shot towards each other. After several punches, kicks and swipes with blades they jumped back to their masters--each sporting massive damage. Sasori looked at his puppet. It was missing a chunk out of it's left arm and some of it's right side had been splintered. "I underestimated you, Grandma. Looks like I may need to take this seriously after all." His puppet's mouth opened and something that looked a bit like black sand began to snake from it in tendrils.

"So, it seems it can use the Sandaime's jutsu." Chiyo gritted her teeth. _"The most feared weapon in all of Sunagakuru...satetsu (A/N- Iron sand)" _

"It's been a long time since you've seen this hasn't it? This 'family reunion' is about to be cut short!" The tendrils surrounded Chiyo's puppets and separated into the tiny granules that they really were. They filled every joint of the puppets, rendering them useless.

The satetsu formed into needle-like projectiles and rocketed toward Chiyo. She raised her right arm. The sides of it opened into four long strips which had chakra run between them, creating a shield. "So, you've turned your arm into a puppet. How fitting. And a chakra shield as well. You're just full of surprises today, Grandma."

Chiyo closed her arm back up and stood still for a moment...thinking. _"Damn. I really don't want to use 'those'." _Just as Chiyo was about to pull out another scroll a strange looking humanoid figure stepped up next to her. It was like a living shadow. "What is this?"

The shadow figure spoke. "I'm a jutsu made by Haruno Sakura. I can't be destroyed unless Sakura is knocked out and that strange sand won't effect me. Please, use me as your puppet."

Chiyo stared at this thing that spoke with no mouth for a moment and then looked around till she saw a girl with roughly the same shape as the shadow humanoid. The girl with pink hair gave her a thumbs up and a grin. "Hmn. Thank you, child." She turned back to her grandson. "Alright, kid. Let's see what this shadow can do."

"Golem or shadow puppet--it makes little difference!" Sasori goaded as he sent another rain of satetsu needles.

Chiyo used Inner Sakura to pull herself out of the way of the onslaught. After they landed Inner Sakura spoke again. "What is that attack?"

"Satetsu. It's a jutsu developed by the Sandaime, based on an attack by the previous host of Shukaku. It can be formed into any shape, such as weapons that are perfect for any situation. The Sandaime had a kekkai genkai allowed him to turn the chakra he formed into magnetic forces," Chiyo explained.

"But why would a lifeless puppet have chakra?" Inner Sakura asked.

"Because...that's no ordinary puppet. That's a hitokugutsu--a puppet made from the body of a living person. It's made so that the puppet retains the chakra the victim had while they were still alive."

"Th...that's horrible!" said Inner Sakura.

"Only Sasori can make them. And it also allows him to use all the victim's jutsus." Chiyo turned to Inner Sakura. "It's a good thing you're not made of flesh or I would make you get back."

"Enough talk! Satetsu Kaihou!" Starting at the puppet's mouth, a web of spikes forward. They kept branching off of each other until a huge, spiky mass of brambles headed toward Chiyo.

Inner Sakura pointed at the center of the attack. "Throw me!" Chiyo did as was instructed. Inner Sakura poured chakra into her fist and rocketed through the brambles, shattering them into thousands of tiny splinters.

Hinata's eyes went wide. "Su...Sugoi!"

Sasori glared at Inner Sakura. _"That thing is impossible to destroy, but it can't have come from nowhere." _He looked around until his eyes settled on Sakura. It didn't take more than a second for his brain to put two and two together after realizing their outlines were identical. _"So...that's where you are." _

Naruto noticed Sasori's eyes flicker in Sakura's direction for a moment and he didn't like what it implied.

Sasori's puppet headed for Sakura with frightening speed. _"Shit,"_ Inner Sakura thought, _"I don't have time to get back to myself!" _

Sakura's eyes widened when she saw the puppet coming for her.

"No!" Chiyo yelled.

Everyone barely saw the golfball-sized, snow-white ball before it hit the puppet and exploded, causing everyone to cover their ears to block out the noise. When the dust cleared the puppet lay on the ground...in several hundred pieces.

Sasori had managed to catch the trajectory of the sphere and looked in that direction. He saw Naruto standing there...with eyes he'd never seen. _"What the hell? He didn't have a dojutsu in the reports."_ He glared in thought for a moment. _"It must be a side effect of the niji chakra." _

The white flame in Naruto's eyes seemed to glow a bit as he reached out into the air and, with the speed of building a rasengan, pulled material seemingly from thin air and made another ball identical to the first. Sasori's eyes widened as much as possible when he realized what Naruto had just done. "You...you can see sugikon?! (A/N-after soul, aka: chakra residue)"

Naruto grinned. "Yep. And that's not all." He held out the hand which contained the sugikon bomb and formed a niji rasengan around it. "Everyone, run! I'm the only one of us who could live through this!" he commanded to the crowd. Hinata, Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto. He saw their fear and smiled. "Don't worry--seriously. I've done this before."

Hinata was surprised. "Y...you have?"

Naruto laughed. "What did you think I was doing with Jiraiya for six months?--Watching him peep?"

Sasuke smirked. "Hmpf, just be careful."

"You know me," Naruto replied.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. "That's why I said be careful."

The remainder of his allies departed, with Hinata casting a nervous glance behind her as Naruto turned to face his enemy.

Sasori simply shook his head. "How do you think you're gonna hit me with that, kid? There's no way," Sasori took off his cloak, "you can match my speed."

Naruto was shocked as he looked over the many wooden limbs and joints where there should have been skin. _"He...he made himself into a puppet?"_ He smirked. "Now that I know you're mainly wood, I don't feel so bad about doing this."

Sasori looked disgusted. "Feh. 'feel _bad_'--about killing an enemy? What kind of ninja are you?"

Naruto's smirk widened. "The good kind." He crouched down, loaded his legs with chakra and launched himself at Sasori.

_"He's fast,"_ Sasori thought as Naruto shot forward. He pulled a length of spear-tipped cord from the spindle he'd built into his midriff and launched it at Naruto. It was dead on target and Naruto was still heading forward. "Heh. Got you."

Just before the blade would have hit Naruto he moved the rasengan in front of himself like a shield and the projectile merely bounced off it.

"What?!" Sasori's hands flipped upwards, revealing kunai launchers in his wrists.

Naruto saw this and only smiled. "Too late..." The rasengan hit dead on target. The explosion that resulted was so powerful that it shook the village with the force of a 3.0 earthquake. Citizens had to run for cover as baseball sized chunks of rock fell from the cliff above.

* * *

Hinata had been told he would be alright, but she couldn't help herself as her instincts took over. "NARUTO-KUN!" she screamed. Before her comrades could catch her she darted away from the relative safety of the Kazekage tower roof toward the settling dust from Naruto's attack.

* * *

Pieces of Sasori's body were scattered everywhere on the hot sand. In the center of this mayhem was a softly moaning Naruto. "Aw, dammit," he choked out as he felt Hinata's chakra signature get closer to him. He hadn't wanted her to see him until he'd healed the worst of his wounds. He winced at the pitch hit by her shriek of fear. 

"Naruto-kun!" She dove to her knees next to her boyfriend. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked him over. He had multiple second degree burns and small cuts--the exception being a large gash on his left cheek. There was blood leaking from both corners of his mouth and he was bruised everywhere. Hinata took out a cloth from her side pouch and wiped away some of the blood.

"I told you not to come," Naruto said horsely.

"You said you would be alright," Hinata said, a touch of anger entering her voice.

"I will be. You just got here before I was done healing myself," Naruto replied gently.

"What?" Hinata said in surprise.

Naruto smiled slightly. "Look at my cheek."

Hinata looked and saw a faint glow as the tissues slowly knitted themselves back together. She swallowed. "H..how long before we can move you?"

"About ten minutes. The burns are almost gone already," Naruto replied as he looked at his hand.

Hinata's eyes widened a little. The second degree burns had gone down a level to first degree.

Sakura walked over and knelt beside Hinata, placing a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "Why don't we help him along?" she said with a smile.

Hinata nodded. "Nhm," she replied stiffly. She saw the confused look on Sakura's face produced by the strange tone in her voice, but avoided clearing up the confusion because even she didn't understand why her own voice sounded so...irritated. It wasn't like her. Glowing green hands were soon speeding the healing process further, but an unfamiliar feeling was boiling underneath her own skin, something that was quickly turning into anger.  
"Thanks," Naruto said. Sakura smacked the back of his head. "What was that for?" he asked indignantly.

"For making us worry," Sakura answered without looking up from her work.

Naruto frowned.

Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Please get a med team up here with a stretcher."

Sasuke nodded and left.

Once the wounds were healed enough that the girls could lessen the help they gave Hinata uttered words that Naruto had never thought could come from her mouth. "Naruto-kun?" she said without looking at him.

"Yeah?"

The tone in her voice held barely contained rage. "Don't you_ ever_ do that again."

Naruto shrank back a bit at the quiet anger in her words. "I did what I had to..."

Hinata's head snapped up. Tears were streaming down her face. "EVER!" she screeched.

"Hina-chan, we're ninjas. We're going to get hurt," Naruto replied, feeling a bit defensive as he eased himself into a sitting position.

"That's not what I was talking about."

"Then what...?"

Hinata had calmed down considerably, but the tears still flowed. "You lied to me to get me to leave. You said you would be alright. The way you looked when we first got here--that...that wasn't alright," she finished softly.

Naruto hated to admit it, but she was right. He wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Hina-chan. Next time we fight together...I promise."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

FINALLY:dies: I was starting to think I'd be writing that battle for another chapter :shudders: 

I know some of you will think Hinata is OOC, but with how much she's grown during COLAD and considering the circumstances I think her reaction was correct.

**DOUJINSHI NEWS!!: **Yep, you heard right. We actually have more pages to look at! These were drawn by the unbelievably talented Charu-san. You guys will LOVE her work to bits and pieces. She's not doing all of book one, but she's said that she does plan to do many scenes from it. The first one being Naruto's confession from chapter 20. She's been adding new pages daily. We're already up to ten and she said the scene has five more coming before she's done! If you'd like to see her work please go to the COLAD homepage (Link in my profile). They're under doujinshi/Charu-san. Please be certain to leave comments. She deserves a ton!

**Radioplay news:**Why me? sigh My narrator doesn't have time to do it for the summer, so now I get to do it myself. It's gonna be hard coming up with a voice different enough from Tsunade's so everyone doesn't get confused. Chapter 3 will come, I'm just not sure when.

Now that the battle is done with the next chapter should come out much faster. Crosses fingers

C-ya later all,

Song


	9. The Best of Intentions

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 9

((Sigh)) Well, at least this chapter is a nice 3400 words to make up for the time it took to write it. Keep your fingers crossed for a faster update next time.

The narrator I had previously cast has rejoined us so look for chapter 3 of the radioplay sometime in the next month.

There are now fifteen pages from the completely amazing Charu-san! Check 'em out! Naruto and Hinata's first kiss is in those pages!!! ((Dies of joy))

* * *

Chiyo stared down at a circular piece of wood that was cracked in half...with blood oozing out of it. There was also what looked like chunks of tissue inside. "So...that's where you kept your organic parts," she said sadly. "I am sorry, my grandson—it is because of my poor guidance that you came to this end." 

Sakura put a hand on Chiyo's shoulder. "Come on. You're the last one," she said with a small smile.

"Yes..." Chiyo gave one last look at her grandson's remains. "I suppose I should be evaluated. Sakura, was it?"

"Hai," Sakura replied with a slight nod.

"Thank you for the use of your...shadow puppet. That's quite the kekkai genkai you have there," Chiyo said as they began walking.

Sakura brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Thank you. I just learned about it last year."

"Your blond friend—What clan is he from? Is he a Namikaze?"

Sakura blinked rapidly. "Yeah. How did you know?"

"I saw Minato fight in the great wars," Chiyo said as she looked at the sky wistfully, "He was unlike any shinobi I've ever seen. The instant I saw Naruto I knew they had to be related."

Sakura laughed. "Naruto's his son."

Chiyo raised an eyebrow. "That certainly explains his talent."

Sakura laughed again.

Chiyo gave her a curious look. "What's so funny?"

"I've never heard anyone call him talented before," Sakura replied, her laughter slowing to a light giggle.

Chiyo looked at her in shock. "What passes for true talent in your village, if not a boy who can nearly bring down a cliff with one shot?" They reached the village level and landed on the street.

"Naruto started out as the worst of our class," Sakura replied as they turned a corner.

"The worst—how is that possible?"

"I'm not really sure. When we graduated he could barely make a proper bunshin. When we took our final test with Kakashi-sensei he surprised us all with _kage_ bunshin. During our first mission we encountered an unexpected enemy who was tough, even for Kakashi-sensei. Kakashi-sensei got trapped in some kind of water prison jutsu and we all thought we were dead. But Naruto went from quivering on the ground to suddenly proclaiming he was going to be Hokage and coming up with a plan that freed Kakashi-sensei."

"Interesting," Chiyo commented as she rubbed a sore spot on her right arm.

"And when we were in the forest for the chuunin exam, he acted dumb sometimes and others he just blew me away by coming up with amazingly well thought out plans."

"And you don't consider that talented?" Chiyo asked as the hospital came into view.

Sakura frowned in thought. "It's not consistent. Kind of like he's got an idiot and a battle genius trapped in the same body and they take turns being in control."

Chiyo made a small chuckle. "Did he have good teachers as a child?"

Sakura considered this for a moment. "Well, he had Iruka sensei, but if you mean someone to help him at home, then, no."

"Hmm. That makes me wonder what kind of ninja he might have been if someone had taken the time to train him properly outside of school."

"You know...I never thought of that before," Sakura answered with a bit of shame to her tone.

"If he's gone from worst in your class, to doing that jutsu I saw a little while ago in less than three years..."

"Some of that is from the niji chakra though," Sakura countered.

Chiyo frowned. "Talent is not measured in raw power, Sakura. How many ninjas do you know who would think of putting sugikon inside a rasengan? As far as battles and techniques go, I would call that talent. I would even go so far as to call it genius."

Sakura looked at Chiyo with an incredulous expression. "Genius...Naruto? Are you serious?"

"Quite." Chiyo pointed in front of them. "Although it looks like we won't have time to discuss it further."

Sakura looked ahead and saw a Suna chuunin running towards them.

"Sakura-san, Chiyo-sama...we require your assistance inside!" the chuunin said quickly.

"Looks like my exam will have to wait," Chiyo said, and both of them ran into the hospital.

* * *

A doctor met Chiyo and Sakura as soon as they entered the room—which was buzzing with activity. "She's fibrillating. I can't get it to stop." 

Sakura instantly recognized the young chuunin on the table as the one she had helped in the field.

Chiyo waved the nurses out of their way and Sakura put her hands on the girl's chest. _"Oh no!"_ Sakura looked at the doctor in regret. "I should have known I hadn't learned enough to heal something this bad. The seals I put in place have failed. There's nothing I can do," she said sadly.

Chiyo put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "There's something...I can do." She laid her hands on the dying girl. _"Sasori...maybe by doing this, heaven will forgive me for not guiding you in the way I should have."_ Her hands glowed and the light spread over the girl's body. After a moment it lessened, then disappeared altogether...and Chiyo fell to the floor.

Sakura was instantly at the old woman's side. "Chiyo-san!" She noticed Chiyo wasn't breathing and checked her pulse. A looked of total bewilderment came over her face. "She...she's gone. I don't understand it."

"I do," said the doctor as she sat down in a chair. "What she used wasn't medical jutsu—it was a resurrection jutsu. Look," she said as she pointed at the girl.

Sakura's eyes widened. The chuunin girl was breathing slow and steady. "Chiyo gave her, her life energy," she said softly.

The doctor nodded solemnly. "I've never seen it done before, but my mother told me about it."

Sakura got to her feet and checked the chuunin's vitals. "It looks like she's made a full recovery. Why don't you show me the others?"

The doctor nodded and led the way.

* * *

Sakura finished healing Kankuro's leg and sighed heavily. "There's nothing else I can do until we come up with an antidote for that poison." She gritted her teeth. _"Dammit. All my training and this is as much as I can do?"_ She sighed again. "I think I may need help. Please contact Tsunade-sama," she said to the doctor.

* * *

The instant Sakura saw Naruto; she wished she had waited just a few more minutes before entering the room. Naruto was sitting on the bed in nothing but his boxers. She had seen him in this state several times since they had become team mates, but those times had all been before he had left with Jiraiya and come back with muscles that were very, very... She shook her head to rid her mind of the biological reaction to the boy in front of her. She knew it didn't mean she was any less loyal to Lee and that it was a natural reaction to an attractive member of the opposite sex, but she still couldn't help but feel guilty. She put her hand in front of her face. "Naruto-kun...put something on please?"

Naruto blushed a bit in embarrassment. "Sorry. The nurse should be back with my clothes in a minute." He pulled up the sheets around himself. "You can look now."

Sakura sighed in relief and turned around—noting how stark the Suna hospital rooms were compared to the ones back home. The bed was against the middle of the wall to the right. There was a night stand but it was white stone with no flowers or patterns. The window was small, with no blinds or shutters. Pretty much everything was white or grayish. The whole thing made her feel bad for anyone who had to stay in one of these rooms for very long. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. A little sore, but I'll live," Naruto replied as he rotated his neck to stretch it out.

"I'm waiting for Tsunade-sama. I can't heal the poison by myself yet," Sakura said with a frown as she sat on the chair beside the bed.

Naruto smiled comfortingly. "I'm sure you will someday."

"Thanks," Sakura replied.

Naruto looked out the tiny window, or at least he tried to—it was too small to see much. "I never knew Hinata could get so mad," he said with a half-hearted laugh.

"Well, people get mad when the person they love does something like that," Sakura explained matter-of-factly. "I'm sure you weren't too happy when Hinata told you she almost use that technique to save you when you got burned." she instantly knew she had said something she wasn't supposed to when she saw the look on Naruto's face.

Naruto's eyes were squinted into an apprehensive glare. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

Sakura couldn't think of anything to say. She hadn't thought that Hinata wouldn't have told Naruto about what happened in Ganshou. "I-uh...u...um."

Naruto felt a knot forming in his stomach. "What technique, Sakura-chan?" he demanded.

"I...um...ah...um...this isn't something I should tell you. It should be Hinata that does it," Sakura said as she lowered her eyes.

"I...I will," came Hinata's voice from the doorway.

Naruto's head snapped sideways. "What's she talking about, Hina-chan?" he demanded, his voice laced with concern.

Sakura stood up. "I think I should go." She turned to Naruto. "I'll check on you later." She might as well have said it to thin air seeing as how he didn't even turn his head to acknowledge her. She gave Hinata's shoulder a comforting squeeze before exiting the room.

When the door clicked shut Hinata sat down on the bed while Naruto watched her expectantly. After a moment of silence Naruto couldn't take it anymore. "Well?"

Hinata let out a long sigh. "D...do you remember that technique I used to bring that fish back to life...?"

Naruto's eyes snapped open.

_(("Hinata, I want you to promise me that you'll never do that again," Tsunade said sternly. _

_The smile fell from Hinata's face. "Huh?" she said in confusion. Hadn't she done a good job? "Why?" _

"_The body has a lot less electrical current than chakra. Reviving a fish is one thing. If you use that technique on a human being...you'll die," Tsunade said gravely. Hinata made a small gasp. "I am declaring that jutsu as forbidden. You can't use it and you will not teach it to anyone. Is that understood?" _

_Hinata's face showed her disappointment. "Hai...Tsunade-sama.")) _

Naruto looked at his girlfriend in absolute horror. "If you'd used that...you...you would've..."

Hinata swallowed. "I...I didn't want you to die."

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. When he opened them they held a mixture of anger and sadness. "My life...is never worth yours...you got that?" he said in a shaking voice.

"N...Naruto-kun, I..."

"NEVER!" Naruto yelled.

Hinata's eyes filled with tears. "I didn't want you to die!" she cried shrilly.

"You think I want _you_ to die either?!" Naruto yelled back. "I can't believe you'd do something so _stupid_!"

Hinata stood so quickly that the chair she'd been occupying fell over. As she ran out the door she bumped into a nurse carrying Naruto's clothes—muttering an 'excuse me' as she disappeared from sight.

The nurse stared at the sullen boy in pity for a moment before speaking. "I'll um...I'll just leave these here," she said quietly as she placed the clothes on the nightstand.

Once the nurse was gone from the room Naruto's face fell into his hands and he exhaled a long, frustrated sigh. "Dammit."

* * *

Three days later Tsunade was busy drawing the last of the poison from her final patient. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I think that's all I can remove with this method." She turned to Sakura. "Let's go make the antidote so we can get these people out of here," she said with a smile. 

Sakura responded in kind and nodded. "Nhm!"

They left the intensive care unit and walked down the long hallway. "I'm sorry, shishou. I failed you," Sakura said suddenly.

"How did you fail?" Tsunade asked in curiosity.

"I couldn't draw out the poison like you showed me."

Tsunade smiled. "Sakura, you've studying under me for less than a year. You're being too hard on yourself."

Sakura sighed. "I guess."

As they got near Naruto's room Tsunade stopped. "I'm going to see how my son's doing. Why don't you get started and I'll meet you at the greenhouse."

Sakura nodded and walked away.

Tsunade saw that Naruto was staring at the bed sheets with a listless expression and frowned a bit as she walked into the room. "Hey there, kiddo," she said as she sat down on the chair next to him.

Silence.

"What's wrong?" Tsunade asked as she bent her head down so she could attempt making eye contact.

Naruto didn't look up. "I yelled at Hinata," he said quietly.

Tsunade blinked in surprise. "Yelled at her? Why?"

Naruto sighed and raised his head. "Do you remember that jutsu you told Hina-chan was forbidden?"

Tsunade nodded.

"Well, I found out that she almost used it to save me when I got burned."

Tsunade's face set into a frown. "I see," she said in a disapproving tone.

"I got mad when I found out. I told her she was stupid," Naruto said regretfully.

"Hmm. While I agree with your assessment, you probably didn't phrase it in the best way. When did this happen?"

"Three days ago."

"Three days?! You can't leave something like this for so long," Tsunade chastised.

Naruto sighed. "I wanna to talk to her, but I wouldn't know what to say. I don't know how to face her after calling her that."

Tsunade chewed her inner cheek a bit in thought. "My mother always told me 'Never go to bed angry'."

Naruto looked confused. "Huh?"

"When you're in a relationship that is really important to you, you should always try to resolve things before you go to sleep. The longer you leave things alone, the harder it is to make up."

Naruto was silent for a moment before nodding his head. "Okay, as soon as they let me out of here."

A sudden look of confusion came over Tsunade's face. "Why _are_ you still in here anyway?"

Naruto frowned. "They won't tell me."

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

* * *

The door to the chief resident's office opened and Tsunade strolled in. The owner of said office looked up in surprise. "May I help you?" 

Tsunade folded her arms and glared at the balding man. "Yes. You can tell me why my son is still in here when he should've been released on the first day."

"Who's your son?" the chief asked tentatively.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Tsunade answered impatiently.

The chief instantly looked nervous. He hadn't expected the boy's mother to visit. "I...see. Please have a seat."

When the chief didn't start talking immediately Tsunade got impatient. "Well?"

The chief clear his throat. "I didn't want to share this information with anyone until I was sure." He stood up, opened a file cabinet drawer, pulled out a manila folder and retook his seat. "It would seem…that Naruto may be suicidal."

"What?" Tsunade said with an incredulous tone.

"My family has a kekkai genkai. Even if there are no scars, wounds change the cells from their original state by strengthening them in case of another wound in the same area. We can see even the oldest of wounds as green lines on the skin. I was looking over his injuries from the battle and...there were over forty cuts in the area between the elbow and the wrist on his left arm. It doesn't look like the kind of wounds made by battle. They are precise and consistently..."

"Stop," Tsunade said suddenly. She closed her eyes, shook her head and sighed. "Thank you for your concern, but they aren't suicide wounds."

The chief looked skeptical and slightly insulted. Who was this woman to question his analysis? "With all due respect, ma'am, I would think I know more about medicine than you."

Tsunade laughed slightly. "Do you even know who I am?"

"No," the chief answered with trepidation.

"I am Tsunade—Hokage of Konoha."

The chief went white as a sheet. "Ts...Tsunade-sama. Forgive me. Of course you would know what you are talking about." Tsunade smirked. "But would you mind telling me exactly what _is_ going on then?"

Tsunade made an unhappy sigh. "Practice."

The look on the chief's face was one of utter confusion. "Practice?"

"My son has healing ability. About seven months ago he showed it to me by making a large cut in the area you talked about."

"I understand. I'll get his release papers then," the chief said with a relieved smile.

The two stood and shook hands. "Thank you, for having such concern over my son," Tsunade said graciously.

The chief nodded and smiled again. "Of course."

* * *

"How do you know about that?" Naruto asked his mother in disbelief. 

Tsunade folded her arms. "I have my sources. The chief resident thought you were suicidal. That's why he was keeping you here."

"Sorry. I shoulda told you earlier," Naruto said as he pulled on his t-shirt.

Tsunade pursed her lips. "That would've been nice."

Naruto grimaced apologetically. "I didn't want you to worry. Plus, most of it was while I was away."

"Just promise me that from now on you'll tell me about any training that you purposely hurt yourself for," Tsunade asked as she gave him a hug.

"I will, Kaa-san."

They parted and stood up. "Well, now that that's settled, I have to join Sakura in the greenhouse. Why don't you go find Hinata?"

Naruto nodded. "Hai."

* * *

Hinata was sitting at the ice cream shop. She slowly ate her treat, heeding Sakura's warning about headaches. She wasn't sure how to apologize to Naruto. He'd been so angry. She had told Sakura about the argument and she had said that it was best to let Naruto cool down. Hinata sighed when she noticed she had carved Naruto's name in the frozen confection. _"Naruto-kun..."_

"Hey, Hina-chan," came Naruto's voice from behind the young Hyuuga.

Hinata blinked and turned around. "Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed in surprise.

Naruto made a small smile. "Can you come with me for a minute?"

Hinata slowly nodded and the couple left the shop.

"Naruto-kun, I..." Hinata began.

Naruto put a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Wait...I don't wanna talk about this out here."

Hinata nodded and followed in silence.

They made their way to the building the Konoha team had been staying at while in Suna. It was a fairly long, four story building with the usual, dull Suna architecture. Once inside they went up to the room that the guys all shared.

Naruto sat on the couch and Hinata followed suit. "I wanted to apologize," he said after a moment.

"Wh...what do you have to apologize for?" Hinata asked in confusion.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm the _only_ one who needs to apologize. Yeah, what you almost did wasn't the brightest idea in the world, but I probably would've done the same thing if it was you. I shouldn't have called you stupid. I was just...scared. To think you might've sacrificed yourself for me...it makes my chest hurt." His eyes were filled with fear and sadness as he stroked her forehead. "Please, don't ever die for me. If you think you can live and still save me I'm all for it. But..." his eyes misted over, "I don't want to live, if you're not there too."

Hinata wiped at the tears that were now making their way down her face and nodded before pulling the boy she loved into a tight embrace. "I promise."

...TO BE CONTINUED


	10. Consequences

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 10

Wow. I think Morgan broke into my cappuccino stash (Either that, or Chibi-chan has been at it again 'Glares in Chibi's direction'. LOL.)

Enjoy the chappy all. :)

* * *

"Hey, Gaara!"

Gaara looked up from his book to see Naruto just waltz right into his hospital room without knocking. He sighed inwardly but managed a courteous, "Ohayo."

Naruto sat down on the end of the bed, a wolfish expression on his face. "So...Kurumi been to visit you yet?" he teased.

Gaara rolled his eyes slightly. "Three times." He looked at the clock on his nightstand. "In fact, she should be..." He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Gaara-sama, can I come in?" chirped Kurumi's cheerful voice.

Gaara sighed. "Hai."

Kurumi walked in, holding a book. "I found it." She set down a tiny vase with a single rose in it. "Took me a couple hours but..." it was then she noticed Naruto. "Hey, Naruto-kun," she said happily. "Sorry I didn't see you there," she said as a nurse walked in and set Gaara's clothes down on a chair next to the bed.

Naruto blinked. "I'm sitting on the end of Gaara's bed. How could you miss me?"

The nurse giggled and whispered in Naruto's ear. "She kinda has tunnel vision when it comes to Gaara-sama."

Naruto laughed as the nurse left. He looked at the title of the book as she handed it to Gaara. It read: **'The Duties of a Kazekage'**. He smiled. "Glad you haven't given up on that."

The side of Gaara's mouth curled upward into a small smile. "I should know these things just in case Kazekage-sama actually manages to convince the counsel that I would be a good candidate."

Naruto smiled. "Good plan. Glad to see you're okay."

"Thanks to you," Gaara said with a grateful nod.

"I always take care of my friends," Naruto replied with a thumb-up.

Gaara gave his friend a genuine smile.

"Neh, Gaara-sama?" Kurumi asked while gaining some pink in her cheeks.

Gaara cocked his head to one side in curiosity as a gentle breeze wafted through the room from the window. "Hm?"

Kurumi swallowed. "After you're released later today...would you like to get ice cream with me?" she asked in a small voice.

Gaara looked startled for a split second then regained his composure. He was about to say 'no' but something about the look in her eyes crumpled his resolve. "Alright."

Kurumi's green eyes lit up instantly. "Really?!"

Gaara nodded.

Kurumi jumped into the air. "YATTA!" Almost as soon as she landed she realized she'd been a bit over zealous. She turned a bright crimson and ahemed as she clamped her hands behind her back in an effort to look more composed.

Gaara looked tentative. Naruto was barely able to hold back his laughter.

"Um...I mean... Seven o-clock okay?" Kurumi asked, praying she hadn't scared the poor boy off.

"That is acceptable," Gaara replied politely.

Kurumi's smile returned. "Great! I'll see you then. Bye guys!" she said exuberantly. She attempted to walk out the door but walked into it instead. "Oof!" She rubbed her nose. "Eh heh heh heh," she laughed nervously. After managing to make it out the door her right sandal caught on her left and she fell into the hallway. "I'm okay!" she called out through the slowly closing door.

Naruto stared at the closed door for a moment. He snorted, then snickered, then burst into loud laughter. Gaara simply shook his head and waited for him to stop.

When Naruto finally calmed down Gaara decided it was safe to talk without too much fear of interruption. "She's...a little clumsy."

Naruto let out one last chuckle. "I gotta go," he said as he stood up. "Gotta meet with the Kazekage before we leave."

"Thank you for visiting," Gaara said truthfully.

"No prob," Naruto replied as he clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "A word of advice though?"

"Hm?"

"Next time you're talking to a girl that likes you try something more interesting than 'That is acceptable'," Naruto said in his best imitation of Gaara's voice.

Gaara smirked and made an affirmative sound by blowing a puff of air through his nose.

Naruto walked out the door and headed for the Kazekage tower.

* * *

Takaifuujin, Kazekage of Suna, was silent as he regarded the young man in front of him. He had gone through many different views of him in a rather short period of time—From instantly discounting his abilities because of his young age, to being fearful of the beast he had believed to be within him, to being in awe of his amazing chakra, and then finally to having a deep feeling of gratitude to him for destroying an enemy so dangerous to his beloved Suna. "I thank you all," he said finally. "You fought bravely for us and saved many of my comrades, both on," he looked at Kakashi, "and off," his gaze shifted to Sakura, "the battlefield." He looked at Naruto. "But you...you not only saved the boy that I plan to have succeed me one day, but you won the battle for us. Once you become Hokage—and I know you will—I will be honored to be your ally," he finished this with a low bow.

An odd silence fell over Naruto. It was not often someone regarded him with such respect, let alone a kage. So it was with a great leap forward in the growth of his personality that he too, bowed low. "Arigato, Kazekage-sama. I look forward to being your ally as well."

Not a mouth in the room, save for Naruto's and Takaifuujin's, was left closed. They stared, slack-jawed, at they blond boy they knew, or thought they had known, so well by this point.

"_It that really Naruto?" Kakashi wondered. _

Hinata positively glowed with pride. _"Naruto-kun."_

* * *

As they left the Kazekage tower, Kakashi clapped a hand down on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto...I'm impressed by the way you handled yourself in there. I'm proud of you," Kakashi said as his right eye crinkled into a smile.

Naruto smiled as well—then suddenly his expression changed to that of sudden remembrance. "Oh!"

Kakashi looked at him curiously. "Hm?"

"I forgot something! Can you guys wait out here?" Naruto pleaded.

Kakashi was very curious as to what Naruto could possibly have forgotten but he gave a nod of approval anyway. Naruto smiled as his thanks and dashed back inside the building.

* * *

"Kazekage-sama?"

Takaifuujin lifted his head to meet the gaze of the male jounin that had poked his head in. "Hai?"

"Uzumaki Naruto would like to speak with you again."

Takaifuujin smiled. "By all means, send him in."

Naruto appeared in the doorway and gave a short bow. "I'm sorry to bother you again. I know you gotta be busy."

"It's no bother at all." Takaifuujin waved his hand at the pillows in front of him. "Please take a seat."

Naruto sat down as instructed. "I need to ask you about one of the techniques you used against Sasori."

Takaifuujin looked intrigued. "Oh?"

"Danshingu kaze no jutsu—is it unique to Suna?" Naruto asked seriously.

Takaifuujin smiled. "Actually it is. In fact it's not only unique to Suna, but unique to me. It is my own jutsu."

A shocked expression crossed Naruto's face. For some reason he was now very nervous about revealing the information he had.

"What is it?" Takaifuujin asked, his curiosity now piqued.

Naruto swallowed. "I...I've seen it before."

Takaifuujin looked confused for a moment but then suddenly his eyes held something that Naruto just couldn't pinpoint. Takaifuujin spoke in a strange tone of voice. "Where...Where did you see it?"

"Ganshou city. I fought...I fought a girl who used that technique," Naruto replied carefully.

Takaifuujin's eyes snapped wide. He grabbed Naruto by the shoulders, a desperately hopeful look in his eyes. "Katsura! Was her name Katsura?!"

Naruto's heart was sinking with each word of the conversation. "Yes," he answered stiffly.

The wild look left his eyes and Takaifuujin heaved a great sigh of relief. He looked up, his face shining with gratitude. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I have been looking for Katsura for almost two years." At seeing Naruto's confused look he decided to explain. "She is my daughter."

The expression Naruto's face twisted into was one of absolute horror. The bottom had dropped out of his stomach and he suddenly desperately wished he had not gone back into the building.

Takaifuujin did not like the look on Naruto's face. "What is it?!"

Naruto's mouth opened and closed several times without making a sound. When his voice finally did find release it spoke the words that are the nightmare of every parent in existence. "She...she...she's dead."

Takaifuujin's expression became fearful and disbelieving. "Wh-wh-what?!"

"It was an accident. She was...part of a gang we were trying to stop. She was following us so we attacked. I was only trying to knock her out, so we could question her but...she...she fell onto something sharp and..." Naruto couldn't bare to finish so he simply let the rest hang in the air.

Tears pricked at the corners of Takaifuujin's eyes. "You..." His hands balled into shaking fists. "You k-killed my, my Katsura?"

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to run as fast as his legs could carry him to escape seeing such a look on the face of the man who had shown him such respect and admiration just a short while ago.

"Get out..." Takaifuujin said with barely contained rage.

"I...I'm sorry," Naruto said as tears slowly made their way down his face.

"GET OUT!" Takaifuujin screamed.

Without another word Naruto bolted from the room, down the steps and out the door, not bothering to even looked at his comrades as he streaked past.

Kakashi looked stunned. "What the hell happened?"

* * *

Alone in the room now, Takaifuujin's face and upper torso sank to the floor as he wept loud, bitter tears for the daughter who would never come home.

* * *

Kakashi didn't know what was going on, but his first priority was Naruto. "Hinata. Find Naruto and bring him to the front of the hospital. We'll go pick up Kiba and meet you there."

Hinata dumbly nodded. As the others left her alone she ran in the direction Naruto had gone. _"Naruto-kun...What happened?"_

She activated her Byakugan after she had traveled a few blocks. Her eyes scanned the buildings and streets. To her right she saw children playing with a ball. Directly in front of her she saw nothing but people shopping in the market. A little to her left there was a dog licking what seemed to be a fairly recent wound. But in every direction she looked, there was no Naruto. Finally, she looked upward and, to her right a bit, was the object of her search. "There!"

* * *

Naruto heard the footsteps behind him, but ignored them.

"Naruto-kun?" When she was met with silence, Hinata sat down behind him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. A pained look crossed her face as her hand was pushed off.

"Please, Hina-chan...just go away," Naruto nearly whispered.

"I can't—Not when you're hurting," Hinata replied softly.

Naruto sighed but didn't reply.

Hinata, not knowing what else to do, sat behind him and waited. She had learned from experience that Naruto would eventually say something if she stayed long enough. She hated seeing him like this and it happened much too often as far as she was concerned.

Naruto felt as though Hinata's eyes were burning holes right through him. _"For someone so shy she sure can be stubborn,"_ he thought glumly.

* * *

Kiba looked at the carnation in his hand, sighed, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," said a female voice.

Kiba opened the door. Lying in the bed was the gennin who had helped him in the fight. "Hi," he said with a small smile.

The girl brightened instantly. "Hi!" She sat up, pulled her forest green hair into a ponytail, and secured it with a blue elastic.

"How are you feeling?" Kiba asked as he set the flower in a vase on the night stand.

The girl stretched her arms above her head. "I'll be a whole lot better when I'm outta here and back on active duty," she said with a wry smile. "My name's Nao. What's yours?"

"Kiba."

Nao gave a short bow. "Nice ta meet ya. Thanks for the flower."

Kiba smiled. "I just wanted to thanks again for helping me. And I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks. Hope we have a chance to fight together again someday," Nao said with a grin.

"Nhm!" Kiba said with a short, sharp nod. "Well, I gotta catch up with my team. See ya around!" he said with a wave.

"Bye!" Nao replied happily.

* * *

"She was his daughter," Naruto said suddenly.

Hinata blinked for a moment in confusion. "What?"

Naruto sighed. "The girl I killed...she was the Kazekage's daughter."

Hinata gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. "On no!" she whispered sharply.

"Yeah. So much for being allies when I become Hokage," Naruto said sadly.

Hinata frowned with her teeth clenched together, then she bit her lip and released it. After repeating this a few times she spoke. "M-maybe he'll forgive you," she offered feebly.

"I don't think so Hina-chan."

There was a loud thud as someone landed on the roof behind them. "We have to get going you two."

Hinata looked up. "Kurenai-sensei! The poison's gone?"

Kurenai nodded. "Yup. Tsunade-sama's antidote making knowledge is amazing," she said with reverence.

Naruto and Hinata stood up.

"Alright then—let's go. You can tell me what happened on the way," Kurenai said.

* * *

Kakashi nodded in approval as he saw Kurenai returning over the rooftops with his wayward charges. "About time you got back."

Kurenai landed. "Kakashi—a word?"

Kakashi squinted in curiosity. He moved next to Kurenai, who leaned in close to whisper something. After a moment his visible eye widened considerably. "I understand." He turned around. "We'll leave at once. I doubt our host would welcome anything we have to say at this point."

The Konoha team nodded and headed for home.

* * *

"You all did very well on this mission—especially you, Naruto," Tsunade said with a smile.

Naruto's expression did not change from the sullen look he had worn since Suna. "Thanks," he replied with no real emotion.

Tsunade frowned and looked to Kakashi and Kurenai. "I'm sorry, but would you leave Naruto and I alone? I need to talk to him."

Kurenai nodded. "Of course."

Once they were gone Tsunade moved from behind her desk and sat down next to her son. "Kakashi told me about katsura." She was answered with silence. "It's sad when this kind of thing happens, but it's unavoidable sometimes. The Kazekage will realize this eventually."

Naruto picked at his nails absentmindedly. "I'm not so sure," he said sadly.

Suddenly, Tsunade looked like she'd remembered something happy. "Hey! I've got something that'll cheer you up," she said, eyes shining.

Naruto only cocked his head to one side in confusion.

* * *

Tsunade and Naruto stood outside Haruka's hospital room. Naruto was still confused because his mother had refused to let him in on what was going on. When Tsunade opened the door his breath caught in his throat.

She was sitting up...She was sitting up and eating breakfast off of a tray. Her long red hair flowing out behind her like a carpet made from the sunset. She glanced upward from her breakfast a moment after she heard the door open. "Hokage-sama, how lovely of you to check up on me personally," she said pleasantly. Her gaze fell on Naruto. "Who's this?" she asked with a smile.

Naruto could barely move or breathe. Only one thing escaped his otherwise paralyzed mouth. "Haruka...nee...san..."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

:Dives into RPR: Hey, I haven't done a really mean cliffy in a while. Gimme a break. ;)

This chapter was almost 3.5k words. And that's nuts considering I got it out this fast.

I got a lot of comments on Naruto and Hinata's argument in chapter 9 and some of them were concerned so I felt I should respond to it. The comment (from Withdrawn) was _"I like the argument between Naruto and Hinata, though I get the uneasy feeling that it's supposed to be indicative of things to come"_. My response: **Hell no. I HATE 'battle' relationships. A good example is Ross and Rachel from friends. The "break up, make up" crap gets on my nerves. Not to mention a relationship that unstable pretty much never works in real life. My husband and I have been married 11 years and have had maybe 2 'fights' and neither of them were bad enough to come even close to breaking us up. If love is real and the couple has a sturdy base of friendship to start, then they should never come to the point where they'll break up at the first instance of major stress.**

I hope that puts any fears to rest. :Locks door and activates security system:

Later all,

Song


	11. The Price of Hate

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 11

You guys are gonna shoot me for this chapter. ((Hides))

I know some of you said you were upset that I didn't post this chapter as soon as it was done, but honestly...would you rather I posted this last week and have you wait 3 weeks for the next chapter, or have me space them out so you don't spend so much time without something to read?

**Radioplay news:** The narration lines are in!! This means I can finally start putting the damn thing together. Hopefully it will be out by the end of the month.

ANGST WARNING!

* * *

Naruto's voice was barely audible. "Haruka...nee...san..." 

"Do you know me, kiddo?" Haruka asked. As she was looking his face over her gaze came to rest on Naruto's whisker marks. A look of realization crossed her face and she turned white as a sheet. There was no mistaking those marks. "Naru-to...chan?" she breathed.

Tsunade smiled. "I'll leave you two alone." She walked away and shut the door behind her.

For a long while neither Naruto nor Haruka spoke—each frozen from the shock. An announcement over the intercom seemed to free Haruka from her trance. "You are Naruto-chan...aren't you?"

Naruto nodded slowly before running towards her. She opened her arms, closing them around him once he had reached her. "Nee-san!"

"Naruto-chan...I'm so glad you're safe," Haruka said as her eyes misted over.

Naruto reveled in the warmth he remembered from his childhood. This was definitely her—the woman who had kept him safe. He gently pulled out of the hug. "I thought you'd never wake up," he said through his joyful tears.

Haruka wiped her eyes and gave a half laugh. "You should have seen my face when the Hokage told me how long I've been asleep."

Naruto chuckled a bit. "It's Naruto-_kun_ now though."

Haruka blinked rapidly. "Oh! I guess you're right. You're not exactly eight years old anymore are you?" she said with a giggle.

Naruto shook his head rapidly. "So, when are they gonna let you out of here?"

"Shouldn't be too much longer." Haruka put her hand to her head.

Naruto was concerned. "Nee-san?"

"I'm fine. I still get tired quite easily. I should probably take a nap," Haruka replied with an apologetic smile.

"Okay." Naruto gave Haruka another quick hug. "I'll come back later."

Haruka nodded. "Okay," she said brightly.

Naruto began to walk away.

"And Naruto-ch...I mean, Naruto-kun. You've grown up very handsome. I always knew you would," Haruka said wistfully.

Naruto blushed a little. "Thanks. See you tonight," he said with a wave.

Haruka waved as well—making sure to be careful of her I.V line. "Bye, sweetie," she said with the tone of a mother saying goodbye to her son.

* * *

Kikyo walked into the hospital and was immediately waved over by the girl at the front desk. 

"Kikyo-san! Something wonderful happened!"

As she walked over to the girl Kikyo had a strange sense of foreboding. "What is it?"

"Haruka-san woke up!"

Kikyo's eyes widened for an instant before she slipped on her mask of happiness. "That's wonderful! May I see her?"

"Well, she's taking a nap right now. I can take you down there in about three hours or so if you'd like."

"Thank you. I'd like that," Kikyo said.

For some reason Kikyo's smile gave the receptionist a horrible chill. "N...No problem."

* * *

Kikyo glared down at Haruka's sleeping form on the bed in front of her. "You couldn't have just stayed in your coma like a good little demon lover." She looked at the I.V line and a cruel smile played across her lips. "Well, I'll soon take care of that." And with that, she left the room.

* * *

Back in her apartment, Kikyo was looking at a small collection of vials and jars on the wall of her bedroom. "If she tells the Hokage how she was put into that coma I'll be jailed for sure," she whispered angrily to no one. "This one will do." She reached up and picked out a vial that had a white liquid inside. "I won't give her the chance to ruin my life a second time."

* * *

Naruto ran toward the hospital at top speed—a box of chocolates in one hand. _"Stupid mission report. I'm way late!"_

"I know visitor hours are over, but I'm only a few minutes late. Pleeeeeeease?" Naruto begged.

The receptionist just couldn't say no to those gorgeous blue eyes. "Okay, but only for a few minutes," she said with a slight blush.

"Thanks!" Naruto said while flashing his golden smile.

As he ran off the receptionist stared after him and sighed. "God, why does he have to be taken?" she said wistfully.

* * *

Naruto opened the door to find a nurse adding something to Haruka's IV. "Sorry. I didn't know she was getting medicine." 

"That's alright. I'll be on my way shortly," said the nurse sweetly. "There—all done." She turned around and both hers and Naruto's eyes widened, then flattened down into hatred filled glares.

"You!" they both spat in unison.

"What are you doing in Haruka-nee-san's room?!" Naruto demanded.

"I don't have to explain anything to you, demon!" Kikyo countered.

Suddenly the patient alarm sounded. Naruto looked over at Haruka and, to his horror, saw she was shaking with severe convulsions. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" he roared.

Kikyo instinctively took a step backward at the killing intent that suddenly poured off the boy in front of her.

"Tamagan (a/n- Soul Eye)!" Naruto said sharply. The purple flame in his eyes seemed to pulsate with his anger.

The heart monitor alarm sounded flat line and Naruto turned toward the sound. Kikyo took the opportunity to run past him and down the hall. Naruto took off in pursuit.

* * *

Sasuke sighed. "Will you please just let me in? My brother wanted me to meet this woman. It's important to him." 

The nurse frowned in thought. "Alright—Just...be quiet okay? If my boss found out I let _two_ of you in I'll get fired for sure."

"Thank you." As Sasuke turned to head down the hallway all hell broke loose. The patient alarm went off, sending the receptionist's hand flying to the phone to alert the doctors, and a moment later he heard what sounded like a woman screaming. The sound got closer and closer until he saw a woman in her mid forties running down the hall and right behind her—a VERY pissed off Naruto.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!" Naruto roared.

"Naruto, what the hell...?" Sasuke said as he attempted to grab his brother's arm. He was thrown back from the force of the chakra radiating from Naruto's body. He stared after them for a moment with wide eyes before standing up and running out the doors after them.

"NARUTO! WAIT DAMMIT!" Sasuke was worried—not because he thought the woman might get hurt. He knew his brother wouldn't try to kill someone without good reason—but because he was afraid that if Naruto killed the woman in front of civilians, people might start calling him a monster again. _"I can't let that happen!"_

A bolt of lightning arced across the sky, followed by thunder, and then sudden, heavy rain.

"HELP! HELP ME!" Kikyo screamed as they ran through the streets—but everyone had ducked inside to avoid the sudden cloud burst.

Naruto's wet hair had become wilder and changed to a purplish red. His nails had extended into claws and his teeth into fangs. His tamagan had changed slightly. The white dots in their middles were now slits as they'd been when the Kyuubi had been within him, although the purple flame remained unchanged.

Sasuke breathed an inward sigh of relief as they turned off the main road and headed towards the woods. He was amazed by the woman's speed. _"She's had some ninja training if she can move that fast."_

Naruto couldn't hear his brother calling to him. A red haze had clouded his vision and all he could see was his target. Once he was in range he leapt onto the screaming Kikyo's back and they fell to the ground together in a heap.

"Get off me!" Kikyo yelled, tears of terror rolling down her face.

Naruto hauled off and slugged Kikyo in the face then grabbed her by the front of her dress. "You killed Haruka-nee-san. Your pathetic life ends here," he hissed.

Sasuke's eyes widened. _"So that's what's going on."_ His breath caught in his throat as he watched Naruto raise his clawed hand, preparing to rip the woman's throat out. He'd never heard Naruto sound so...cold, so calculating, so much...like...like... _((He saw an image of himself as he stood at the Valley of End, holding Naruto up by the gaping hole in his chest.))_ "Naruto, NO!!" he screamed. He ran forward and jumped onto his brother's back.

"Get AWAY!" Naruto yelled as he back fisted Sasuke to the ground.

"LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" Sasuke yelled as he stood up once more. "YOU'VE COMPLETELY LOST IT!"

Naruto punched the woman over and over again. He raised his clawed hand, preparing to slice open Kikyo's throat.

Sasuke had no choice. He had to say it. "DO YOU WANNA TURN INTO ME?!!" he screamed in desperation.

Naruto's claws had stopped in time to avoid killing Kikyo, but not in time to avoid making the angry, red, bleeding line that was now emblazoned across her pale, white throat.

Seeing that this line of reasoning seemed to be working Sasuke continued. "Killing for revenge...That's my destiny...not yours," he pleaded.

Naruto shook his head furiously. "THIS IS DIFFERENT!"

"HOW?!" Sasuke challenged.

Naruto's eyes darted back and forth as his mind furiously tried to come up with a difference...any difference that would allow him to kill the evil he saw in front of him—but he found none. In defeat he closed his hand into a fist and punched Kikyo in the temple, knocking her out. He put his hands over his face, his bitter tears mixing with the rain. It wasn't as if he'd had her with him all along, but to lose Haruka again so soon after their reunion was just too much.

Sasuke, as usual felt lost. He put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. It was the best 'hug' he could manage.

* * *

One week later Naruto and Hinata sat on a bench swing on the edge of a playground. He had his head leaned against the right side chain and Hinata's head was on his shoulder. Her hand held his with her thumb rubbing over the back in an effort to sooth him. 

"Why does everything seem to happen to me?" Naruto asked glumly

Hinata frowned. "I don't know," she said gently.

Kakashi and Tomoyo, hand in hand, walked into the playground. Kakashi put up a hand in greeting. "Yo," he said, his eye crinkled in a smile.

Naruto and Hinata just sat there, eyes wide at Kakashi...his mask was gone. "K-K-Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto sputtered.

Kakashi eh-hemmed. "Yeah, well. I decided it I didn't need it anymore." He went silent for a moment, looking like he was trying to choose his next words. "I realized a mask wasn't necessary...for someone who's engaged."

With a grin, Tomoyo held up her left hand—a small diamond glinted in the sun from her ring finger. Hinata's eyes widened slightly but her expression quickly changed into one of joy. Naruto just sat there with his jaw on the ground, stunned into utter silence.

Tomoyo suddenly looked nervous. "Naruto-kun? Are you upset?"

Naruto shook his head as he came out of his shock induced trance. "Ah, no—g-gomen," he said at last, rubbing the back of his neck. A grin spread over his face. "This is awesome!" He ran up to Tomoyo and gave her a huge hug.

"Congratulations!" Hinata chirped happily as she stood up.

Naruto released Tomoyo and looked at Kakashi. He folded his arms. "I guess this means I'm gonna be related to you," he said with his arms folded and a bemused smile.

Kakashi chuckled. "Yup."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "So, if you're marrying my cousin, then that means you're gonna ditch those perverted books right?"

Kakashi looked positively horrified. "I...ah...that is, ah...erm..."

Tomoyo put her hand over her stuttering fiancé's mouth. "I'll handle this," she said with a smile.

Kakashi's face spoke volumes of his gratitude.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun. I don't mind if he reads it..." Tomoyo looked at Kakashi with a feral grin. "...as long as he finds me afterwards," she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Kakashi smiled wryly. "God I love you."

Naruto's expression was one of abject horror. It was very obvious by the tinge of green gracing his skin that he had images that were _very_ wrong running through his head.

Kakashi ah-hemmed. "Anyway. We have to visit Tsunade-sama to get the necessary papers. We'll see you later."

Hinata nodded. "Nhm!" she said with a smile.

As Kakashi and Tomoyo started to leave Naruto kept staring. Tomoyo turned around. "Oh yeah," she said to Naruto. "I got something to show you. Meet me at the north training field at four."

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

Tomoyo grinned. "You'll see." She and Kakashi walked away, leaving behind a very confused Naruto.

* * *

...TO BE CONTINUED 


	12. Road to the Past

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 12

Here ya go guys. I'm on a roll and lovin' it. :) Chibi-chan, for once I'm happy you over caffeinate Morgan. Lol.

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Naruto sat in the middle of the field, wondering where the hell his cousin was. He'd been right on time, but she was nowhere to be seen. _"Dammit—engaged to him for one day and she's already picking up his bad habits."_

Kakashi's news had temporarily distracted him from thinking of Haruka but now she seeped back into his thoughts. "If only I'd had time," he quietly berated himself.

Finally he saw Tomoyo emerge from the edge of the woods. "Oi! Bout time!"

Tomoyo jogged over to her younger cousin. "Sorry. I couldn't find my shoes," she explained between breaths.

Naruto looked skeptical but let it drop. "So what do ya got to show me?" he asked without much enthusiasm.

Tomoyo frowned. "Are you okay?"

Naruto grimaced slightly. "Not really."

Tomoyo sat down next to him in the soft grass. "You wanna talk about it?"

Naruto sighed. "It's my fault she's dead," he replied bitterly.

Tomoyo knew who he was talking about. "How is it your fault? You didn't make Kikyo kill her," she offered.

"No...But I had the power to stop her before she did." Naruto clenched his teeth. "She was the one who put Haruka-nee-san in a coma in the first place."

"What?" Tomoyo said with a confused expression.

"When I was nine I was walking to Haruka-nee-san's house and Kikyo tried to kill me," Naruto said with a regretful glare.

Tomoyo made a short gasp.

"Kikyo tried to crush me with a rock but Haruka-nee-san shielded me...and the rock hit her instead..." Naruto said, his voice choking up a bit.

"But then why wasn't Kikyo in jail?" Tomoyo said with a twinge of anger in her voice.

Naruto clenched his fists. "Because my mind blocked out the whole thing. There was no one to tell Sandaime-sama what happened. I remembered about seven months ago when Kyuubi made me watch my worst memories..."

Tomoyo was about to interrupt with a question but Naruto held up his hand.

"It's a long story," he said quickly. He sighed and went on. "I figured Kikyo was already in jail...so I never told kaa-san."

Tomoyo's face showed her understanding. "Oh..."

Naruto's breathing became slightly erratic as he attempted to control his emotions. "I...I never dreamed she got away with that..." He lost his battle and the tears made their way down his face.

Tomoyo bit her lower lip. "I don't know what to say."

"She got hurt because of me! Because people thought I was a monster!" Naruto cried loudly. "And she died because I was too STUPID to tell someone what I knew!"

Tomoyo felt the tears well up in her eyes as she watched her younger cousin. She remembered the day after Haruka's death.

_(("Are you gonna be okay?" Tomoyo asked Naruto tentatively. _

_Naruto looked up at her with an odd expression. "I'll be fine. It's not like she was around for very long." _

_Tomoyo was shocked at the callousness of Naruto's statement. She frowned, resisting the urge to slap him. "Well, at least Kikyo is getting what's coming to her." _

_Naruto closed his eyes for a second. "Yeah." He looked at the sky and then back at Tomoyo. "I gotta go. Kaa-san's waiting for me." _

_Before Tomoyo could respond, Naruto had run off.)) _

Tomoyo sighed. _"I knew it. He was lying that day. He must've still been in shock."_ She did the only thing she could think of and wrapped her arms around the crying boy.

"Why?! Why couldn't she stay with me? I only had her back for one day!" Naruto cried in anguish.

As she let Naruto cry Tomoyo looked at the sky and pleaded. _"Kami-sama, please let that bitch get the death penalty."_

* * *

TenTen frowned as she glanced at a bird that had begun chirping. It sat on a power line above the street bench she and Sasuke were sitting on. "So when's the trial?" 

"Two days from now," Sasuke said as he uncrossed his arms and stood up. "I gotta go. Sakura wanted me to tell her as soon as I found out." He made half a chuckle. "She'd be so mad if she knew I didn't tell her first."

"It's not your fault I'm nosy," TenTen said with a laugh.

Sasuke smirked. "I'll see you later," he said as he turned to leave.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke turned back around. "Hm?"

"You never told me how you stopped Naruto from killing Kikyo."

Sasuke thought for a moment. "I just told him what he needed to hear."

TenTen frowned in confusion. "But what did you...?"

"Nothing you need to know," Sasuke interrupted. His expression clearly told TenTen to drop it, so she did.

"Okay. Later then," she said with a small smile.

Sasuke nodded and left.

TenTen, with a mopey expression on her face, rested the bottom of her face in her hands. "Damn that boy is confusing," she muttered.

* * *

Tomoyo gave Naruto a comforting smile. "We can do the surprise tomorrow. Why don't you get some rest?" 

A puffy-eyed Naruto shook his head. "Naw. I think I'm gonna train for a while—see if I can clear my head."

Tomoyo nodded. "Kay." She stood up and kissed Naruto on the top of his head. "Ja na."

"Ja," Naruto answered—and his cousin walked away.

* * *

The Akatsuki leader glared at Deidara. "You assured me using the Ichibi as bait would bring success." 

Deidara frowned in regret. "I didn't expect others would join in the fight. Any other Jinchuuriki would have been abandoned by their village."

The leader sighed. "We will have another chance. Itachi—are you prepared?"

"Hai," Itachi replied coolly.

"Hey, Itachi, are you sure you want to do this?" Kisame asked with a sideways glance at his partner. "Your little brother is mentally unstable as it is. This could break him."

"If it achieves our goal, then the sacrifice is necessary," Itachi said darkly.

* * *

Hinata had gone to the training field with the intention of asking him to dinner, but she had only gotten as far as the edge of the field. She'd been frozen to the spot for last five minutes because of the sight in front of her from which she could not tear her gaze. 

When she had arrived at the field she found her boyfriend, minus his shirt, doing taijutsu drills. His skin had a thin sheen of sweat over it which shimmered a bit in the light of the setting sun. The look of intensity in his eyes had captivated her and she was lost in them.

Naruto knew someone was watching him. He wasn't sure who, but he did know it wasn't an enemy due to the chakra signature so he largely ignored them. He held out his hand and the familiar multi-colored ball of light appeared on it. He nodded in approval at the swirling ball, then held out the other hand and repeated the process. He took a deep breath and turned on a large boulder to his left. "Nibai rasengan! (A/N-Dual rasengan)" He charged forward, slamming into the boulder with the force of a wrecking ball—it shattered into rubble.

Hinata watched as he was thrown backward from the force of the explosion.

He stared at the pile of smaller rocks that occupied the space the boulder had been in a moment ago, breathing hard. "Shit...still too much power..." he said in between gasps. He looked towards the woods. "Are you gonna stare at me all night or are you gonna come out?" he asked loudly.

Hinata stepped out from behind a tree. "S-Sorry, Naruto-kun," she said with a heavy blush that was barely visible in the twilight.

Naruto smiled instantly. "Hina-chan!" He got into a more comfortable sitting position as she walked over to him.

"That was amazing, Naruto-kun," Hinata said with pride.

Naruto, still slightly out of breath, grinned in embarrassment and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah well, it still needs some work. I put in too much power and I still can't make them both at the same time."

"I still think it's amazing," Hinata said with a smile.

Naruto smiled back gratefully. "I think I'm gonna go home for the night. I'm beat."

"Can I walk with you?"

Naruto grinned. "Sure."

They stood up and started moving.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked after a minute.

"Yeah?"

"I was w-wondering...can I go with you to the t-trial?" Hinata asked tentatively as she stared at the ground.

Naruto's smile evaporated. "I'd rather you didn't," he said with tension in his voice.

"W-Why not?"

Naruto sighed and kicked a rock. "I don't know how I'll act when I see _her_ again. If I freak out..." He paused for a moment and stared up at the moon. "...I don't want you to see me like that."

Hinata entwined her fingers with his. "I want to be there for you. N-No matter what," she stated firmly.

Naruto sighed and put his arms around her. "Thanks," he whispered. After a moment he let out a heavy sigh. "Okay."

Hinata held Naruto tighter. "Thank you."

They suddenly heard a loud eh-hem from in front of them and quickly broke apart.

Hinata's eyes were wide with nervousness. "O-Otou-san!"

Hiashi stood there with him arms folded. "Did you forget you have diplomacy lessons today?"

Hinata looked embarrassed. "H-Hai. Gomen, Otou-san."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hina-chan," Naruto said with a reassuring smile.

Hinata nodded and she and her father left.

The slight look of displeasure Hiashi had directed at him hadn't escaped Naruto. _"I wonder if he'll ever accept me?"_ he thought sullenly.

* * *

Tomoyo and Naruto were in the training field again. She paced in front of Naruto with a frown on her face. "I don't know. This is kind of a family matter." 

"Sasuke is my nii-san," Naruto said firmly.

Tomoyo gave him a funny look. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"Do you know about the Uchiha bonding seal?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Tomoyo looked startled for a moment before smiling. "If that's the case then of course he can come."

Naruto smiled widely. "I'll be right back!" He jumped to his feet and ran for town.

* * *

"SASUKE!" a loud voice rang through out the village. Many citizens covered their ears and glared at the green and blue blur as it flew past them. 

"Quiet down!" yelled a woman who was buying some fruit.

"Sorry!" Naruto called back.

The woman shook her head and sighed. "I wonder if he'll ever stop being so loud?"

"_This is taking too long."_ Naruto's hands formed his favorite seal. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Twelve Narutos shot off in different directions.

* * *

Sasuke sighed when the spiky-haired shadow blocked out the sun. He opened one eye. "What?" 

"I need you to come with me," Naruto said excitedly.

Sasuke groaned. He'd been enjoying the quiet and really didn't feel like getting up. "Why?"

"Tomoyo-san has a surprise for us!"

Sasuke winced at the volume of his brother's voice. "Fine." He got to his feet and dusted himself off.

Naruto grinned. "Great! Meet us at training field ten!"

Sasuke blinked in surprise as the clone poofed out of existence. "I hate it when he does that."

* * *

Naruto, Tomoyo, and Sasuke walked ever deeper into the woods. 

Sasuke was getting impatient. He really didn't feel like doing much of anything at that moment and walking toward a goal that he didn't know anything about held very little interest for him. He sighed and slapped the mosquito that had been attempting to procure lunch from his neck.

Tomoyo stopped walking and crouched down. She seemed to be looking for something as she dusted dirt from the forest floor. Naruto and Sasuke watched in curiosity. Suddenly, she smiled. "Found it." She stood up and pointed down at the spot that had been the focus of her little dig.

Naruto's eyebrows went up when he saw that his cousin's dusting had revealed what looked like a flat stone from a walkway. "What's this?"

Tomoyo's smile widened and she flashed through a series of seals. "Futon: kin boufuu no jutsu (A/N-Wind type: little windstorm technique)!" She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out with great force. A good sized gust of wind blew through the area in front of them, revealing a long stone path. She held out a hand in order to wave them ahead. "Follow it."

Both boys looked at Tomoyo in curiosity for a moment but did as they were instructed. As they walked Naruto began to notice other things that seemed out of place in the forest—a small dragon statue on each side of the path, lamp posts covered in vines, and finally, as they cleared the top of a hill, a long wall, also covered in vines. In the middle of this wall was a massive double door. Each side of the door had one half of a dragon molded onto it in bronze.

Naruto's heart pulsed with excitement. "Tomoyo-san...this is..." he breathed.

Tomoyo smiled. "The Namikaze complex." She looked at her cousin. "Welcome home."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

::Jumps into RPR and slams the door shut just as hands are grabbing for her:: Errrrm. Hi::cough:: I know you guys wanna kill me right now but it was either cut it off there or you wait another 5 days or so for this chappy. 

**Radioplay news:** I'm slowly putting chapter 3 together. I actually have lines in this chapter. WOOT!

Wow...I never thought so many ppl would be so pissed that I killed off such a short lived OC. I'm sorry the chapter upset you guys, but there were other reasons besides not knowing how to fit her in. I already have a ridiculous amount of prominent OCs. A fanfic should always focus on the original cast. Tomoyo is already filling the role of "relative who can teach Naruto about his family" and Haruka's death helps Sasuke think about his own life. It will come into play later. I debated a long time over whether or not to keep her alive. I consulted many friends and they all agreed this was necessary. I hope you all can forgive me.

I know I said a new edge in this chapter but I decided next chappy would be better.

**Next chapter:** The Namikaze complex, a new jutsu for Naruto and Kikyo's trial...


	13. Karma

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 13

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

"The Namikaze complex..." Naruto whispered in wide-eyed wonder. He walked forward and slowly ran his hand over the dragon on the front gate. 

Tomoyo held up an ornate key, which glinted in the beams of sunlight that broke through the leaves above. "Let's see if this thing still works." She walked up to the gate, inserted the key and turned it. She smiled when the lock clicked. "After you," she said to Naruto with a wave.

Naruto took a deep breath and, with some effort, pushed open the heavy wooden doors. It wasn't quite what he was expecting. It looked somewhat like the Uchiha complex in basic layout, but it was a little smaller and quite run down. The dragons were everywhere—in signs, in sculptures—there was even a fountain in the center of a snake-like dragon wound around a tall, thin stone. It looked like, at one time, the great mouth of this dragon had had water pouring from it.

Sasuke looked around as though he were thinking of bad memories. He didn't like being in clan compounds—they reminded him of what he once had. It was the very reason he had opted to live in his own apartment rather than the ancestral grounds of his family.

Tomoyo stepped up next to Naruto, who was still staring at the fountain. "The dragon was our clan symbol." She walked over and touched the fountain's face. "My grandmother told me that long ago, our clan was able to summon them."

Naruto's eyes widened and he turned to Tomoyo. "Dragons?!"

Tomoyo nodded. "Nhm. But the contract was lost several generations ago—if it even really existed, that is." She looked around at the state of her family's home. Most of the buildings had some structural damage to them, but nothing severe. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be—Although there was still the problem of the vines that were everywhere, and the trees that had so rudely burst through some parts of the once pristine streets. She sighed. "So...still want to try and fix up this dump?" she said with a bemused smile.

A determined look set onto Naruto's face. "More than ever."

* * *

Naruto knelt on the somewhat uncomfortable bench-like pillow with a tightness in his chest. He squeezed Hinata's hand, who returned the gesture. Sakura, Sasuke, and the rest of his class all sat around him. Lee, TenTen and Neji were there also. The rest of the 'seats' were filled with other Konoha citizens. 

Tsunade sat down on a large pillow which was on a slightly raised section of floor at the head of the room. She had actually bothered to wear her Hokage robes, which only showed how seriously she took the entire matter. She turned to Kurenai, who had been standing to her right. "Bring her in."

Kurenai nodded. "Hai, Tsunade-sama." Discarding flashy ninja exits for the sake of the atmosphere, she walked out of the room. A few seconds later she reappeared, leading a nervous looking Kikyo.

Naruto felt his teeth clench of their own accord as he watched the object of his hatred walk past him. Hinata squeezed his hand again in a show of support.

Kurenai made Kikyo kneel on a small pillow on the floor in front of Tsunade. Once Kurenai had resumed her previous position Tsunade spoke. "Yuuchi Kikyo. You are here today on charges of assault with the intent to kill, and first degree murder. Due to the fact that there isn't a chance in hell of you being acquitted, this trial is mainly a formality. I will, however, allow you one attempt at convincing me not to have you gutted," she said with a grim finality.

A positively horrified Kikyo sat there with her mouth hanging open. She hadn't been expecting the Hokage to take such a strong stance on Naruto's side. She swallowed and spoke. "I did...what anyone loyal to Konoha would have done," she began slowly in a shaky voice, "I rid us of someone who sympathized with an evil monster that killed hundreds of our citizens." Her face was now etched with an expression of indignant anger. She stood, and pointed sharply at Naruto. "And anyone who attempts to kill this _thing_ should be praised as a hero, not brought to trial," she said bravely in the hopes of garnering support from her peers. She sat back down, her head held high in defiance.

Tsunade barely managed to control the rage that was welling up inside of her. She turned to the onlookers. "Would anyone else like to say something relating to this case?" She scanned the crowd and the knot in her stomach tightened when a man actually had the balls to stand up. But what came out of his mouth, was not what she had expected.

He looked around at the others in the room, took a deep breath, and spoke. "I don't know about anyone else, but I hold nothing against Naruto." He turned toward the boy in question. "Yes, I was afraid of him until I knew more about his seal, but I never hated him. What I do hate," he turned to Kikyo, "are close-minded people like her—People who hate others without having all the facts. I say give her to Naruto and let him decide her punishment."

All but one of the villagers nodded or made sounds of agreement. Naruto had a truly grateful smile on his face. Tears streamed down Kikyo's face as she stared in disbelief at her peers.

Tsunade, smiling, turned to her son. "Well, Naruto? You heard them. What do you think Kikyo's punishment should be?"

Naruto just sat there, flabbergasted. So many ideas ran through his head that he had trouble sorting them out. Suddenly, his expression turned to ice—and when he spoke his voice seemed to bring down the temperature of the room by several degrees. "Ikijigoku no jutsu (A/N-Living hell technique)."

Everyone in the room looked confused. "What is that?" A woman in her early thirties whispered to her husband. The husband shrugged.

All the color had drained from Tsunade's face. She knew exactly what Naruto was talking about. "H...How do you know about that technique?"

"I'll tell you later," Naruto replied.

After a moment Tsunade cleared her throat. "Are you sure this is what you want?" she asked carefully.

"I want her to know what it's like...to be in her own personal hell," Naruto said bitterly.

Tsunade swallowed before nodding. "Alright then. Yuuchi Kikyo. You are hereby sentenced to Ikijigoku no jutsu. This will be carried out tomorrow morning at eight a.m. Kurenai...take her back to her cell."

Kurenai nodded and grabbed Kikyo by the elbow. This action seemed to snap Kikyo out of her stunned trance. "NO! Nooooo!" She struggled against Kurenai's grip to no avail. "Let me go!" she screamed just as the doors were shut behind her.

Everyone got up to leave and Tsunade walked over to her son. "Naruto, can you stay behind for a few minutes?" she asked quietly.

Naruto nodded.

"May I stay, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked.

Tsunade frowned in thought, and was about to refuse the request when she saw Hinata squeeze Naruto's hand. This caused her to remember that the last time she'd left Hinata out of the loop it hadn't turned out so well. "Alright." She turned to her son. "How did you find out about that jutsu? It's forbidden."

Naruto looked as though he were trying to decide how to start. "Do you know about the whole thing with Mizuki just before I graduated?"

"Yes. He tricked you into stealing..." Realization dawned on Tsunade's face. "Of course." Her hand went to her forehead and she sighed. "I should have known. You learned kage bunshin from the forbidden scroll, didn't you?"

Naruto nodded.

"All this time I assumed Kakashi taught it to you. And of course you would have looked at the other jutsu on the list." Her expression became grave. "You know what this jutsu will do to her?"

Naruto set his jaw. "I do."

"What will it do, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked tentatively.

"Ikijigoku is a jutsu I hoped I'd never have to use again. I've only done it once. It paralyzes a person completely. They can't move, can't speak—they can't even turn their head. It basically turns them into a statue with a soul."

Hinata gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.

"I created Ikijigoku in order to punish the man who killed Nawaki. The man died a few years before I came back to the village, but I was told by the nurse that there wasn't a day gone by when his eyes hadn't begged for death." Her eyes showed a bit of shame. "I'll do this Naruto, but only because it's for you," Tsunade said firmly.

"I know." Naruto hugged his mother. "Arigato, Kaa-san," he said with a whisper that suggested he was holding back tears.

* * *

The room was deep in the hidden caverns of the Hokage monument. It was at least fifty feet in diameter, dark, damp, and completely isolated. Torches, dancing with flame, were the only illumination. Naruto was leaning against the wall, watching his mother—his eyes occasionally darting to Kikyo, who sat in the middle of a huge sealing circle. Two jounin guarded the only exit and Shizune stood next to Naruto, her left arm around his shoulders in a gesture of support. Sasuke sat on the floor near them, looking indifferent. 

Hinata had asked to go with Naruto, but he had declined her request. It wasn't something he wanted someone as sensitive as her to see.

Tears poured from Kikyo's eyes as Tsunade finished the last of the seals on her body and began the hand seals that would complete the jutsu. "You can't do this! It's inhuman!" she cried. She struggled against her bonds, but she was held fast by the ropes that held her to the heavy iron chair she sat on.

Tsunade looked up as she performed the seals. "That's a funny statement...coming from you."

"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!!" Kikyo screamed again and again.

Tsunade's hands moved faster. She didn't know how much more she could take of the woman's caterwauling and not give in. Finally, the last seal was formed. "Ikijigoku no jutsu!" She slammed her hands down on the edge of the sealing circle and it began to glow.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Kikyo screamed as the sealing symbols snaked their way onto her body and disappeared into her head.

Shizune felt Naruto recoil a bit at the scene in front of him and gave his shoulders a short squeeze. "It'll be over soon," she whispered. But she had mistaken the reason for his shudder.

"I hope not..." Naruto said in a bitterly cold voice.

Shizune looked at him in disbelief. The expression he wore made her breath hitch in her throat. "Naruto...kun?"

"I want her to scream forever..." The look on Naruto's face was one of barely controlled rage and hatred. "...for Haruka-nee-san."

* * *

Sasuke was sitting outside his apartment on the small porch-roof-like overhang that connected to the building under his living room window. An image of Naruto's face during Kikyo's sealing came into his mind and he sighed. It was a little saddening to see his brother like that. If it had been Itachi, Sasuke would have gleefully drawn the seals on his body himself. But to see Naruto wishing for such extreme suffering of a person to continue forever was just...unnatural—like saying the sun could suddenly produce rain. _"That wasn't Naruto."_

"Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke looked down into the street and saw TenTen waving up at him. "What?"

"You wanna spar?"

Sasuke appeared to think about it for a moment. "Yeah. I'll be down in a minute."

TenTen nodded with a smile as Sasuke disappeared into his apartment.

Sasuke grabbed a few weapons and leapt out the window to street level. "Let's go," he said nonchalantly.

* * *

Sasuke adjusted and readjusted his grip on the unfamiliar weapon in his hands. Truthfully, he much preferred kunai or straight hand to hand. "Tell me again why I agreed to this?" 

TenTen readied the bo staff in her hands. "Because any other weapons I use could seriously maim you?" she said with a feral smile.

"If you could even get close to me," Sasuke said with a smirk.

TenTen raised her bo to an attack stance. "Heh. You aren't lucky enough to have giant fan to blow away my weapons."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that. The only knowledge he had of her fighting ability was what Naruto had told him of her fight against Temari. "Let's see what you've got," he said with a smile.

"Happy to oblige," TenTen replied.

Both teenagers rushed forward. Sasuke was a little faster so they met more on TenTen's side than in the middle. Their staffs hit each other, making an 'X' and a loud crack that resonated through the trees.

"You're strong—I'll give you that," Sasuke said as he struggled to keep his staff from losing the pushing match.

"You don't know the half of it!" TenTen put on a burst of strength, pushing Sasuke's staff hard to the right and then upwards. This freed her staff for a split second, letting her swing the end at his legs. He barely dodged it.

TenTen swung her staff in an arc, forcing Sasuke to put his up in a horizontal guard. Already he was wishing he hadn't agreed to not use his sharingan. His unfamiliarity with the weapon was a disadvantage. He'd been given a run down on the basics before she gave him the staff, but that was it. He managed to shove her far enough away that he could get his weapon back into an offensive stance and then blocked several frontal attacks. They both jumped backwards and stood there for a moment, breathing hard.

"Not bad for a beginner," TenTen admitted.

"Thanks, but I won't be for long," Sasuke replied smugly between breaths.

"Heh. You're about to find out why I'm called a weapons expert." TenTen charged forward again.

* * *

Tsunade sat across from Tomoyo in her office. Her face showed she was deciding on something. "Do you think he's ready?" 

Tomoyo nodded. "If he works hard at it."

Tsunade smirked. "If there's anyone good at working hard, it's Naruto. Go ahead."

Tomoyo smiled widely. "Thank you Tsunade-sama."

* * *

"I don't know, Sakura-san," Lee said with an uncertain expression. They were sitting on the couch in Sakura's living room. He protectively rubbed a hand over the green suit that he'd worn so long. "Gai sensei would be very disappointed." 

"Don't you think it was time you were your own person?" Sakura asked as she placed her hand on his.

Lee frowned. "I guess...but I really do like my suit."

"It could still be green," Sakura mentioned in an attempt at compromise.

"Sakura-san...do you like me for who I am?"

Sakura blinked for a moment, as the question had caught her by surprise. She smiled and put her hand on his cheek. "Of course I do."

Lee looked down. "Then why do you keep trying to change me?"

Sakura looked a little stunned. "I..."

"I grew my hair out for you. I even changed the style. I mean, I like my hair this way, but I want to have something that's still me."

Sakura looked down—ashamed. "You're right. I'm sorry, Lee-kun. I won't ask again." She looked up at him. "Can you forgive me?" she asked with a worried expression.

Lee smiled softly. "Of course I can." He pulled her into his arms.

"I love you, Lee-kun." Sakura pulled out of the hug and smiled. "And I'd love you if you dyed your hair green to match your suit." she said as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Please don't do that though," she added quickly.

Lee laughed. "I won't"

* * *

Naruto looked up from his ramen when he heard a knock on the door but went back to eating. Since his mother was the Hokage he was fairly used to strangers coming to the house all day and it had somewhat desensitized him to the excitement of visitors. His interest was reinstated, however, when Izumi came back in and told him the visitor was for him.

* * *

Tomoyo's face brightened as Naruto entered the living room. "Hi, Naruto." 

"Hi." Naruto replied with a smile. "What's up?"

"Come to the complex with me. There's something I wanna show you," Tomoyo said with a grin.

"I thought you showed me the whole place already?"

"I did."

Naruto was extremely confused. "Huh?"

"And bring Minato's kunai."

"Why?"

Tomoyo smirked. "You'll see"

* * *

Naruto looked around him. He and Tomoyo were in the middle of the Namikaze private training field that was adjacent to the backside of the complex. It was a fairly large field—about the size of four football fields—but it was horribly overgrown. The only things that really clued anyone into the fact that it was indeed a training field were the training dummies and a few cracked trees here and there. 

"Okay," Tomoyo began, "I brought you here to train on some new techniques."

Naruto looked around the field with a skeptical eye. "How can I learn anything here? There's no room."

Tomoyo smiled. "Well, for this stage of the training you won't need much room. I only chose this field for nostalgia sake." She picked a clear spot on the ground and sat down, motioning for Naruto to do the same.

Naruto sat and watched curiously as Tomoyo brought out a writing brush, a bottle of ink, and some sheets of paper. "What's that for? I'm not gonna be learning some sissy brush jutsu am I?"

Tomoyo shook her head fervently. "No no no. I would never do that to you. You're gonna be practicing sealing jutsus," she said as she opened the ink bottle. "This stuff is just for you to take notes," she said, handing him the brush.

Naruto eyed the paper and brush skeptically. "But I've never done seals."

"I know, but you've got to learn them if you're going to use this technique."

"What's it called?"

Tomoyo gave her younger cousin a broad smile. "Hiraishin no Jutsu..."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

**Hiraishin no Jutsu--**Flying Thunder God Technique 

Now, before I have people complaining that Naruto is learning an 'S' class jutsu so fast...he's not. It'll be another few chapters till he actually gets around to Hiraishin. Seals first, then Shunshin no Jutsu, and theeeeeen Hiraishin.

I'm sorry for not getting this chapter out to you last Saturday. The word count kinda got away from me ((Glares at Morgan)). I am going to try and keep up this pace though. Chapters will, for the most part, be released on Saturday's or Sundays—one per week (Unless it's a longer chapter or my beta readers aren't around enough for me to work).

I gotta say, a lot of the reviews that dealt with Haruka's death hurt me. I mean, there was one that said they had been reading since the beginning of book 1 and that they felt like quitting reading the fic over it (That one had me depressed for hours). I know tragedy is bad. I didn't enjoy killing her off (Like some of you seem to think). She had to die for the story. Please, please forgive me for this one thing? I promise everything will be happy in the end.

I hope you liked Kikyo's punishment. I certainly enjoyed making her scream. ((Evil grin))

On a side note: Crakbaby helped me with the reason Naruto knew about the technique (Originally he was going to have found it on a scroll in Tsunade's office). He also helped me iron out some of the details for Kikyo's punishment (I was going to seal her into a wooden doll). So thank you, Crak. :)


	14. Underneath the Underneath

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 14

Hey all. This chap is nearly 3000 words. Enjoy. :)

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

"You're gonna teach me Chichiuei's jutsu?!" Naruto said excitedly.

"Yup. But there're other things to do first. You need to work on sealing jutsus first. With any luck there'll soon be a new 'yellow flash' of Konoha," Tomoyo said with a grin.

"YATTA!"

"But seal work comes first. If you don't know the mechanics behind this you won't have a chance in hell of mastering the actual jutsu." Tomoyo opened up a scroll of her own and pulled out an extra brush. Now, paint a circle in the center."

Naruto did as he was instructed. The circle was a tad sloppy but it would suit its purpose well enough.

Tomoyo took the plain sheet of paper from Naruto's other hand. "Good. Now draw these symbols around the outer edge." She painted the needed symbols as Naruto watched. "Okay, your turn."

Tomoyo watched in disdain at the slow pace of Naruto's painting. "Umm. You work on that for a while. I'm going to see if I can make this place a little more presentable." She reached into a bag she had brought along and pulled out a wad of explosive tags.

Naruto watched in curiosity as she placed tags at the bases of four trees, making sure to place them on the side opposite their position. Tomoyo put her hands in the ram seal and the tags exploded. The trees fell with a loud groan, shaking the ground as they hit. She was about to continue on to the next set of trees when she noticed Naruto was not doing his seals. She pointed sharply down at his scroll. "Paint!" she commanded.

Naruto quickly went back to work.

Tomoyo brought down four more trees, then looked around the field and frowned. "Hmm. This is gonna take a while."

Naruto was distracted again when he heard a familiar phrase. **"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"** He looked up to see twenty Tomoyo's populating the field. Each clone took a stack of tags from the original and went to do more damage. He didn't know why, but seeing another member of his family use his favorite jutsu made him happy. He was snapped out of his reverie as another "**Paint!"** was directed his way. A few seconds later a deafening explosion rocked the field—and the resulting crash from the trees hitting the ground was almost as loud. He just sat there with a thunderstruck (A/N- pretty much means WTF) look on his face for a moment. _"She's completely insane."_

* * *

Itachi walked at a fairly slow pace. He wasn't looking forward to what he had to do. When he'd spared Sasuke so many years ago it had been because other than his parents, Sasuke was the only member of his family he hadn't loathed. He remembered back to that day.

_((Itachi sliced through one of his aunts with cold expression on his face. Staying emotionless was the only way he could pull off what he was doing without going insane. But soon Konoha would be rid of the clan and he, Sasuke, and his mother and father could live a normal life in peace. _

_He thrust his sword through the belly of one of his cousins and sighed. This was the last one. He sheathed his sword and walked back to his house. The instant he was near his front door he felt a horribly dark chakra and yanked the door open. _

_He burst into the living room and came across the grizzly sight of his parent's corpses. "You BASTARD! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" _

_Orochimaru's expression was one of indifference. "We can't leave witnesses." _

_Itachi dropped to his knees beside his parent's bodies. "Kaa-san! Tou-san" he cried. _

"_Is there anyone else?" Orochimaru asked. _

_Unseen by the snake Sannin, Itachi's eyes widened for a moment in fear as an image of Sasuke flashed through his mind. "No," he said, praying to god his tone of voice didn't give anything away. "There's no one." _

_Orochimaru looked skeptical but let it slide. "Alright then. And don't forget our offer." _

_Itachi numbly nodded. "Hai." _

_He thought about Sasuke as Orochimaru walked off. He also thought about his best friend who he had killed in order to bring about this day. Everything was his fault and he knew his little brother would hate him for it. __**"It's better that way,"**__ he thought dismally. He knew that if Sasuke knew the truth he would chase down the Akatsuki and would be killed by them. At least if he was chasing Itachi then he was trying to kill someone who didn't want him dead.)) _

Itachi created a bunshin. "Inform him I am here." The clone nodded slightly and vanished. "I'm sorry...Sasuke."

* * *

Tomoyo walked over to Naruto and looked down at his scroll work. Her eyes widened as she looked back and forth between Naruto's scroll and her demonstration—they were barely recognizable as the same symbols. _"His handwriting's actually worse than Minato's"_ she thought as her eyebrow twitched.

Naruto looked up from his work as he finished the last symbol. "Done! What'd ya think?" he said as he held up his work proudly.

Tomoyo made a strained smile. "It's...not bad." She eh-hemmed. "Okay let's try sealing something." she scanned the ground for a moment and found a slightly less than fist-sized rock. She picked it up, tossed it into the air a short height and caught it. "This outta do." She handed it to Naruto. "Now, place it in the middle of the scroll."

Naruto did as he was instructed and made some seals. He slammed his hands down on either side of the seal. "Fuuin no Jutsu!"

"_Kami-sama, let those symbols be good enough for it to work," Tomoyo prayed. _

The puff of smoke dissipated and Tomoyo's eyebrow twitched once again. Only half the rock had been sealed—the other half still lay on the scroll. "Umm...well...that's a new one."

Naruto frowned. "I don't get it. I did everything you said," he said as he picked up the remainder of the rock and studied it.

Tomoyo scratched the back of her neck nervously and sat down. "Yeah, you did...technically."

"What do you mean...technically?" Naruto asked with a slight pout.

"Well...Lemme put it this way—when Minato was alive I thought that no one could possibly have worse handwriting than him. Today...I have been proven wrong."

Now Naruto's eye twitched. "Are you telling me the seal didn't work because my handwriting's lousy?"

Tomoyo grimaced. "Pretty much."

Naruto sighed heavily. "Fine. I guess I'll take this home and practice then."

Tomoyo smiled. "Sounds like a good idea. I'll go home after I finish clearing this place out."

Naruto stood up and looked around the field. Although you could now actually see its borders there were still forty or so trees lying all over the place. "How are you gonna get rid of 'em all?"

Tomoyo glanced around at all the trees slowly and then put her finger to her lips in thought. "You know what? That's a good point." She grinned in embarrassment. "Guess I'll go home now."

Naruto laughed and they headed for the path that led back to the main village.

* * *

Sasuke, TenTen and Lee lay on their backs in the grassy training field. They'd been there for quite a while and TenTen was getting frustrated at staying still for so long. "You guys wanna go get ramen?" she asked hopefully.

"Not when the night sky is so full of wonders," Lee replied with a tone of awe in his voice.

TenTen pouted and traced a line of stars with her eyes. After a moment she tried again. "Sasuke-kun, you wanna train?"

"No thanks," Sasuke replied.

TenTen sighed and shifted her gaze to the trees. It wasn't long before she spotted something odd in one of them and squinted in an attempt to help her vision cut through the darkness. Finally she turned to her friends. "There's someone watching us in that tree over there."

Both boys looked at her with confused expressions before checking to see what she was talking about. After a moment Lee shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "I don't think it's anyone I know."

TenTen frowned. "How bout you, Sasuke-kun?" When there was no response she looked toward him and her breath hitched in her throat. His eyes held a coldness she had never seen before, and it scared her. Of course, she was relatively new to Sasuke's world and as such hadn't seen much of his dangerous side. "S...Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke didn't reply, but instead simply jumped up and disappeared in the direction of the tree.

"Sasuke!" TenTen yelled as she and Lee stood up. Both teens gave chase, their feet pounding away at the moonlit earth.

* * *

Naruto had long ago parted ways with Tomoyo and was now headed to Ichiraku for a late dinner. He was about to push aside the entrance fabric when a familiar blue and white blur shot past him. A moment later TenTen and Lee also ran by. "Looks like dinner'll have to wait," he said sadly. He took off after his friends, pumping more chakra into his legs to give himself an extra burst of speed.

After a few seconds Naruto caught up with Lee and TenTen. "What's going on?"

"He's chasing after someone, but we have no idea who," Lee answered.

"What does the person look like?" Naruto asked.

"It was hard to tell, but I think he had on a cloak and he might've had black hair," TenTen replied in an unsure tone.

Naruto's eyes went wide as an image of Itachi popped into his head. _"I hope it's not who I think it is."_

* * *

Every vein in Sasuke's body pulsed with adrenaline. Rational thought had left the forefront of his mind as he pushed on nearly completely on instinct. Suddenly, just as he got within range of his elder brother there was a puff of smoke and Itachi was gone.

Sasuke skidded to a stop in a small clearing and gritted his teeth in anger. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" He screamed in desperation. Little did he know that as soon as he had entered the clearing he had become trapped in a genjutsu.

* * *

Naruto, TenTen, and Lee had heard Sasuke's yell and knew he had lost sight of his quarry. They stopped running once they caught sight of him and Naruto turned to the others. "I'd better go alone. I'm the only one he listens to when he's like this."

TenTen and Lee frowned, but nodded in agreement. The instant Naruto was gone both of them were knocked unconscious by Itachi's unseen hands.

Naruto walked into the clearing. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned around and instantly, there was a glare of killing intent etched across his face.

Confusion ran rampant through Naruto's mind. What was going on? "Nii-san?"

Sasuke charged up chidori. "I'LL KILL YOU!" With that, he dove forward.

Naruto barely managed to dodge in time, diving to the right and executing a sideways aerial flip before landing six feet away. He jumped up and went into a defensive stance. "SASUKE, WHAT THE HELL?!"

But Sasuke didn't hear a single one of his younger brother's words—for the one he saw in front of him...was Itachi. When Naruto had yelled for an explanation Sasuke only heard Itachi's usual taunts. He knew he had maybe one more shot with Chidori—two at most. _"I'll have to try and wear him down."_

Naruto's heart raced in panic. Not only did he have no idea why Sasuke was attacking him, but there was a good chance Itachi was near by, which meant they didn't have time for this. "Sasuke, STOP! It's me!" he insisted loudly as he hopped backwards to avoid a punch.

Snake, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu! (A/N- Flame Type: Mythical Fire Flower Technique)" Sasuke held his hand to his mouth and shot out several small fireballs at Naruto.

Naruto flipped, rolled and jumped to get out of their way. When he looked up from dodging the last one he wasn't surprised to see the sharingan in Sasuke's eyes. _"Shit!"_ he dodged a volley of punches and ran up a tree. _"What do I do?! I can't go all out against him cause it's pretty obvious he doesn't know it's me. But who __**does**__ he think I am?"_ He suddenly noticed flames licking their way up the tree he was in. He jumped down and turned to face his brother again, and that's when he noticed it—his eyes. The look in Sasuke's eyes was a photograph of the anger and hatred that had been directed at Itachi when they'd met at the hotel almost two years ago. _"He thinks I'm Itachi."_ If Sasuke truly thought he was Itachi then nothing he said would make a difference. He was going to have to bring him down somehow—but how to do it without one or both of them being seriously injured was going to be a problem.

Sasuke was getting irritated. _"What's going on? He doesn't usually just dodge like this."_ His thought was suddenly countered as he dodged a kick to his side.

Naruto threw a punch toward Sasuke's head. Sasuke blocked it with his right forearm and used the opportunity to sweep Naruto's legs. Naruto rolled out of the way as Sasuke's fist came crashing down into the dirt his head used to be. Naruto half rolled/ half flipped as he swung his lower torso around in a circle, grabbed Sasuke by the legs and used the momentum to fling him aside, giving Naruto time to scramble to his feet.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Six Narutos surrounded Sasuke. But instead of freaking out at the number of 'Itachis' Sasuke now saw, his mind was spinning with confusion. _"There's no way in hell I should've been able to knock his legs out from under him so easily. Something's not adding up."_ His eyes suddenly lit up with realization. A realization he would've come to much earlier had he not been so blinded by rage. _"Could this be a genjutsu?"_

Naruto watched curiously as Sasuke paused. _"Did he figure it out?"_

"_If this __**is**__ Itachi's genjutsu there's no way I'll break it without outside help." _Sasukelooked over at the fake Itachi._ "And who the heck am I fighting?" _

"_I need to find a way to let him know I'm me,"_ Naruto thought. Suddenly an idea dawned on him. _"I got it!"_

Sasuke eyed his opponent warily as said opponent held out an open palm and the rasengan materialized on his hand. _"Rasengan?!"_ He stared for a moment as he looked more closely at the sphere—it was rainbow colored. "Naruto?"

Naruto smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.

Sasuke sighed in relief. "Do you know how to dispel genjutsu?"

Naruto shook his head.

From the other side of the trees Itachi frowned in disappointment. As he dispelled the genjutsu he sensed several powerful chakra signatures moving towards him and made a short sigh. It would be too difficult to obtain his target now. Especially if the two remaining sannin were in the group of fighters. _"Another time."_ He vanished into the night, leaving Lee and TenTen sleeping at the foot of a tree.

Sasuke blinked as he saw Naruto return to his true form. "He must have left," he said with an angry glare. "Naruto, I'm sorry."

Naruto smiled. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's not like you knew who I was."

Sasuke smiled a little. "Right."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Lee! TenTen!"

"What about them?" Sasuke asked with concern.

"I left them at the edge of the clearing!"

Just then, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Hinata, and two anbu landed in the clearing. "What happened?" Hinata asked quickly.

"We'll tell you later!" Sasuke answered. "Right now you need to use your byakugan to search for TenTen!" he said with urgency.

Naruto looked at Sasuke. "And Lee," he added.

Sasuke looked a little taken aback that he had forgotten about Lee and quickly corrected himself. "Right."

"Byakugan!" Hinata's eyes scanned the forest until her gaze came to rest on two figures on the ground not far from their position. "Over there!" she said before running off in the indicated direction.

As soon as they got to Lee and TenTen, Sasuke ran over and checked TenTen's vitals, then Lee's. "They're alright. Just knocked out," he said as he breathed a sigh of relief.

Tsunade nodded in approval. "Okay. Now that we've found them let's get them home." She looked at Naruto and Sasuke. "You two can give me your report on the way."

Jiraiya picked up Lee. Tsunade was about to pick up TenTen but Sasuke beat her to it. She looked at him curiously for a moment, then led the way as everyone headed back into the village.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Hope you liked the fight. It was gonna be longer but this chapter was much later than I wanted already.

Some of you may have noticed some name changes this chapter and thought "What the hell?". There's a simple reason for the name changes. Those of you who have read the latest manga know the reason. Those of you who don't, well, you'll find out eventually.

Later all,

Song


	15. Lighting the Darkness

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 15

This chapter should put more than a few people's minds at ease. :)

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Tsunade eyed the four gennin in front of her with a stern expression. "So to sum it up—Itachi used a bunshin to lure you," she glared at Sasuke in disappointment, "out of the village and you followed without informing a single other shinobi which wound up endangering you, Naruto, Lee, and TenTen. Do I have it about right?" 

Sasuke sighed angrily at himself. "Yes," he answered through gritted teeth.

Tsunade drummed her fingers on her desktop. "Alright then. Naruto, TenTen, and Lee—you three may go home. Sasuke, please stay behind."

Sasuke nodded sullenly while the others rose from their seats. The scraping of the chairs was a sharp reminder that he was about to be left alone with one of the scariest women in existence—not something he was looking forward to.

"Good luck," Naruto said as he looked at Sasuke with a slight wince of sympathy.

They filed out one by one. TenTen was the last to go, shooting Sasuke a glance just before disappearing through the doorway.

As soon as the door clicked shut Tsunade sighed heavily. "You are very lucky Genma happened to see you leave the village. I know that your hatred toward your brother is very strong, but that doesn't excuse what you did tonight. I'm removing you from active duty for two weeks. Hopefully this will give you time to reflect on your stupidity."

Sasuke gritted his teeth for a second before answering. "Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"I gave you your life back after you betrayed our village and nearly killed Naruto...Please don't waste my generosity," Tsunade requested solemnly.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama but, I don't make promises...that I can't keep," Sasuke said sadly.

Tsunade sighed in disappointment. "You're dismissed."

Sasuke simply got out of his seat and left the room.

* * *

Naruto tossed and turned under his sheets, the beginnings of sweat forming on his forehead. In his dreams he was in a dark cavern and the sounds of screaming were echoing all around him. He stood in the cavern center, desperately trying to find the source of the screams when a small portion of the area lit up. 

In this light was Kikyo—on her chair, in her bonds, and screaming in a way that pierced one's very soul with horror. Tsunade knelt on one side of the circle—performing the jutsu Naruto had asked her to. And on the far wall, he saw himself watching the entire scene with relish—Drinking in every sound the terrified Kikyo made.

As Naruto watched himself he began to feel sick to his stomach. Was that really him? Was he really this person who wanted another living human's torture to go on forever? It was as if everything he was, everything he had worked so hard to achieve, was vanishing in that twisted expression. Tears formed as his voice found his throat. "NO! No stop it!" he screamed. But it did no good, for this was not a fantasy and could not be changed.

Naruto woke up with a start. He clutched his hand over his heart and his breath came in short gasps as the tears began to fall. "What kind of monster am I?" he asked himself in a voice barely above a whisper. He stood up and headed for his mother's room.

* * *

Tsunade turned her head to glare at the door that the knocking was coming from. "This'd better be important or I'm going to kill someone," she muttered under her breath. She opened the door to find her son standing before her—pale as a sheet with cheeks moist from crying. She was instantly concerned. "Naruto—what's wrong?" 

"Kaa-san, can that jutsu be reversed?" Naruto asked with wild desperation in his eyes.

Instead of shaking her head and saying 'no', Tsunade sighed and smiled, looking greatly relieved. "I was waiting for you to ask that."

Naruto just stared at her for a moment. "You were?" he asked quietly.

Tsunade nodded. "When you asked for that sentence I was shocked, but I realized that you asked for it because you were hurting. I only agreed to it because I knew you wouldn't leave her like that."

Surprise swept over Naruto's face. "You did?"

Tsunade nodded. "I knew because," she bent down a little and placed a hand on his chest over his heart, "the Naruto in here, could never become that boy I saw in the cave."

The tiniest of smiles tugged at one corner of his mouth as another tear made its way down his face. "I...I'm not a monster?"

Tsunade's smile widened slightly and she embraced her son. "No...never..."

* * *

Kikyo blinked her eyes in surprise when her hand actually moved. She stared down at it for a moment before looking at the blonde haired boy in front of her with a suspicious glare. "Why?" 

Naruto simply gave Kikyo a superior glare. "Because...I'm better than you." With that, he walked away, not even bothering to look behind him.

A stunned Kikyo did nothing but stare after him as the nurse brought her clothes.

Tsunade smiled in satisfaction before turning to Kikyo. "As soon as you're dressed the jounin waiting outside will transfer you to prison—where you'll spend the rest of your life." When Kikyo didn't respond Tsunade left.

* * *

Tsunade caught up with Naruto just as he had exited the hospital. "I'm proud of you," she said as she fell in step with him. 

Naruto smiled. "Thanks, Kaa-san."

"Tomoyo said you had a little trouble with your sealing lessons yesterday," Tsunade said with a slight chuckle.

Naruto's smile quickly turned into a pout. "Yeah."

"She also told me why," Tsunade said with a cocked eyebrow as they turned onto the main street.

Naruto turned a little red in response.

"It's not a problem, brat. We just have to work on your handwriting," Tsunade said with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah," Naruto said dejectedly as he kicked at the dirt.

"You know what? Hinata has wonderful handwriting. I'm sure she'd be able to help," Tsunade offered.

Naruto's eyes widened. "That's a great idea! I'll go find her now!" He ran off down the road. "Thanks, Baa-chan!" he called back over his shoulder.

Tsunade winced a bit at her old nickname finding life again, but quickly smiled. "You can do it, brat," she whispered.

* * *

TenTen was on her way to Sasuke's apartment. She'd planned to offer to train with him in an effort to lift his spirits. When she got to his building she lept up the wooden balconies until she reached the covered walkway which led to his door, knocked on the door, and waited. After a moment she tried again. When no one answered she pouted a bit in disappointment. "I guess he's not home." 

"TenTen?"

TenTen spun around to find Sasuke standing behind her with a bag of groceries. "There you are," she said with a smile. "You want a rematch?"

Sasuke seemed to think on the matter for a moment. "Not really in the mood. Besides, I need to put this stuff away," he said as he put his key in the lock.

"Well then I'll help," TenTen replied cheerfully as the lock clicked.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. "I think I can put away one bag of groceries by myself," he said as he turned the doorknob.

TenTen sighed dejectedly. "Okay. See ya around then," she said with a half-hearted smile. She turned around and jumped down to ground level.

Sasuke's face was a wall of regret as he watched her go. "See you around," he said quietly.

* * *

Naruto curled his hand into a loose fist, raised it, lowered it, and raised it again. He was standing at the gate to the Hyuuga complex—fighting the urge to run. He knew Hinata's father hated him and would not take kindly to him just showing up on his doorstep out of the blue. Finally he drummed up his courage and knocked. For a moment nothing happened, but then the gates creaked open. 

A male Hyuuga jounin was standing in the now open gateway. The disdain he had for Naruto was clearly written on his face. "Yes?"

Naruto cleared his throat. "I'm—um...here to see Hinata-chan," he said nervously.

The jounin sighed and pushed his glasses further onto his nose. "Wait here." He turned around and shut the gate, appearing about ten minutes later looking even more unhappy than he had earlier. "This way please." He headed toward the main house and Naruto followed.

The glances Naruto received from the residents of the compound varied more than he would've thought. Some were indifferent, only glancing upwards to see who had come in. Some gave him the same disdainful glare he'd gotten at the gate. A few of them, though, actually smiled when he passed. _"At least they don't __**all**__ hate me,"_ he thought with some hope.

They turned down a hallway and stopped in front of a large door. "I will announce you. Stay there." After a moment the jounin returned. "He'll see you now."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks." Suddenly something dawned on him. "Wait..._he_?"

The jounin smirked. "Yes. Hiashi-sama wishes to speak with you."

Naruto's stomach suddenly felt like a block of cement. What was going on? He was supposed to see Hinata, not face down the man who'd be happy to see his throat slit. He wanted nothing more than to run, but something told him that leaving would be the wrong thing to do so he gulped and entered the room.

The room was fairly impressive. It looked as though at least fifteen people could occupy it comfortably. Small bamboo chutes sat in ornate pots in each of the four corners, a large Japanese lantern style light hung in the center of the ceiling and provided most of the light. The slack was taken up by wall lamps on the left and right walls.

Hiashi was sitting on a large pillow on one side of a short table with a beautiful Japanese crane carved in the center. He had a short stack of what looked like paperwork in front of him. He glanced up with an indifferent look and waved a hand at the pillow opposite his position. "Please, sit," he said as he finished scanning the top paper and put it to one side. He sighed, folded his arms and looked over the obviously nervous boy.

Naruto's heart hammered in his chest. What if he was told he couldn't see Hinata anymore? The very thought made him sick to his stomach, but then he remembered his mother would step in if it came to that so he calmed down a little. _"Will he just __**say**__ something already?"_

After what seemed like an eternity, Hiashi spoke. "I don't see it," he said finally.

"S-see what?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Whatever it is my daughter sees in you. I will allow the relationship to continue, however," Hiashi said matter-of-factly.

Naruto visibly relaxed a bit.

"When I first discovered you two were a couple I was very angry. I wanted you separated, but of course, your mother wouldn't allow it," Hiashi said a small amount of venom in his voice. "I asked Hinata why you were so important to her. After hearing her explanation I decided it would be interesting to see where the path she had chosen was headed." He cleared his throat and paused for a moment—seemingly collecting his thoughts.

"Although I still don't see what she does, I will say this." He unfolded his arms, interlaced his fingers and placed his hands on the table top. "Ever since she has been with you, a change has come over her. She is bolder than she used to be, she's nearly stopped stuttering in my presence, and she has been improving drastically in her training. Before ten months ago I never would have thought kaiten was possible for her, but now she is nearly as skilled in it as Neji. I had spent many years despising you so this is difficult for me to say, but...you have my blessing, to continue courting her."

Naruto's mouth fell open in an 'O' of shock.

"You've instilled in her the confidence...that I was not able to give her." Silence. "And for that I thank you," Hiashi finished with a barely noticeable smile.

Naruto finally found his voice. "I...I don't know what to say."

Hiashi sighed and his mouth curled into a bemused smile. "Perhaps you could say that you will at least attempt to act a little more refined when you are with my daughter in public?"

Naruto winced. "I'm not very good at that, but I can give it a shot."

Hiashi nodded. "That is all I ask. You may see Hinata now."

Naruto was about to simply thank Hiashi and then leave, but then he remembered his promise to attempt refinement and bowed. "Arigato, Hiashi-sama," he said with a much respect as he could muster.

Hiashi's eyebrows rose in surprise, but then he smiled. "You are welcome."

* * *

Hanabi poked her head into her sister's room. "Nee-san, Naruto is here to see you." 

Hinata looked up from her book and smiled. "Thank you, Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi smiled and left the room.

Naruto walked in. "Hey, Hina-chan," he said with a big grin.

"Hi. I can't believe father actually let you in," Hinata said with a pleased expression. She hugged Naruto and they sat down on some floor pillows.

"Well, I'm not exactly by myself. There's a guard outside to make sure I...don't do anything perverted," Naruto said with a blush.

Hinata blushed a bit as well. "W-well there isn't much to do in my room besides read."

Naruto looked around the room a bit. The walls were mostly white, with the exception of a bamboo forest painted on the wall containing the window. Her bed was tucked in one corner, was decorated in mostly decorated in purples and blues and it had a bright blue nightstand next to it. On the wall opposite the bed was a green bookcase with a stuffed panda bear sitting on top. Most of the books inside were at least two inches thick. He winced a little. He hated long books. They were hard for him to get through.

"Well, what I came to ask you about isn't all that exciting anyway," Naruto said as he scratched the back of his neck.

Hinata smiled. "What is it?"

"I-ah...I need some help with my handwriting," Naruto answered with a blush.

Hinata blinked. "Your handwriting?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I was practicing sealing things into scrolls and...my handwriting was so bad that it didn't work."

Hinata's eyes widened. "Oh..."

"So...can you help me?" Naruto asked.

Hinata smiled. "Hai."

"Great!"

"Just let me get some paper," Hinata said as she stood and walked over to her night stand. She opened the drawer and pulled out a short stack of paper, then grabbed a brush and a bottle of ink from their spot on top. Lastly, she pulled a lap desk from under her bed, put it on Naruto's lap and laid the writing supplies on top of that.

"Okay," Hinata said as she sat down next to Naruto, "just write something so I can see what needs to be done," she asked sweetly.

"Right." Naruto took the brush and began writing. After about two minutes he showed her his work.

Hinata took the paper from him. "Okay, let's see..." Her eyebrows rose a bit in shock and her expression turned apologetic. "I...can't read it."

Naruto's face fell.

"Wh...What did it say?" Hinata asked softly.

Naruto sighed sadly. "It says 'Hinata is beautiful'."

Hinata smiled and blushed. "Th...Thank you." She looked at the paper again.

Naruto let out a small snort. "I guess I'm not very good at teaching myself."

Now Hinata looked confused. "Teaching yourself?"

"Yeah. I had to teach myself how to read and write," Naruto explained.

Hinata frowned. "But what about the academy? They teach reading in the entry grade."

Naruto closed his eyes. "I didn't always have Iruka-sensei. My first teachers made me stand outside during lessons. Said they didn't think I even had the right to be there. Of course, back then I didn't know why they said those things," he said with a shrug. "I just thought they hated me cause I'm an orphan and..." he stopped when he saw the expression on Hinata's face, which was full of sadness. "Gomen...I didn't mean to make you sad," he said softly.

Hinata suddenly wrapped her arms around him. "So much," she said in a whisper. "Why did you have to go through so much?"

Naruto gave her a squeeze. "I'm okay now. Don't worry."

Hinata released him and sat straight again. "But...how did you learn without any help?"

Naruto laughed a little. "When I was in my third year I skipped classes sometimes. I snuck outside and listened under the window of the first year class. It was hard cause I had to sneak looks at the chalkboard without getting caught," he said with a smile of pride.

Hinata stared at the writing for another moment. "Well, that would explain why you still write in hiragana. At least," she turned the paper on its side, "I think it's hiragana."

Naruto winced.

Hinata's eyes suddenly went wide. "If you didn't even start teaching yourself until you were in third year then that means..."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah," He swallowed, "I couldn't read till I was almost nine."

Realization swept over Hinata's face like a wave. "S...So that's why your grades were so bad."

Naruto nodded again. "Yeah, but like I said, I'm okay now."

Hinata's expression became determined and she gave him a quick kiss. "Let's get started."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

I am so amazed no one called me on the fact that Naruto was sitting in a swing in Hinata's back yard a few chapters ago. He shouldn't have been there with out a 'meet Hiashi' scene. Anyway. I changed that scene to them being in the park so I could write the events in this chap without people going "Heeeey wait a minute..." LOL. 

It's been a while since I've said it so I thought I'd mention it again. I love love LOVE COLAD fanart. If any of you have some please send it my way. :)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you next week:)


	16. The Apology

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 16

I think you guys are really gonna like this chapter. Lots of happy stuff. :)

* * *

Ten days later Naruto carefully pulled his brush downward to make the final stroke on the words he was writing. He held it out a bit, smiled in satisfaction, and handed it to Hinata. 

Hinata looked over the hiragana and smiled. "It looks wonderful, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto smiled widely.

Hinata blushed. "A-And thank you." The words on the paper read 'Hina-chan is the prettiest sensei ever'.

Naruto smiled and looked at the small analog clock on Hinata's wall. "I better go. I wanna see if Tomoyo-chan is up for some training before it gets too dark." He leaned over, gave Hinata a short kiss and stood up.

Hinata nodded and smiled. "Okay. Good luck."

"Thanks." Naruto gave her a foxy grin and left.

* * *

Sasuke had a scowl on his face as he strolled along the Konoha streets. He absolutely hated being off the mission list. The only thing that kept his from going completely stir crazy was sparring with his friends. 

He noticed Naruto coming out of sweets shop called The Sugar Rice Ball with at least ten sticks of dango in his right hand. _"Damn, he eats a lot."_ He changed his direction toward his brother. "Oi, Naruto."

Naruto smiled. "Hey, Sasuke." He held out a dango stick. "Want one?"

Sasuke made a face. "Hell no. That sugary crap is for girls."

Naruto's face scrunched into a frown. "You callin' me a girl?!"

Sasuke smirked. "Don't look at me. I didn't make you eat those."

Naruto's frown deepened. He shoved his dango back into his shopping bag. "Alright. Now it's on!"

"Ha! Like you can catch me," Sasuke taunted before bolting off in the direction of the training fields.

"Come back here you asshole!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke as he took off after him.

* * *

Sakura looked casually around the weapons shop that TenTen had dragged her to. It wasn't that she didn't like weapons, but drooling over what she did not have the money nor the intention to purchase felt pointless to her. 

TenTen grabbed Sakura by the arm and pulled her over to a case of glimmering short swords. "Aren't they beautiful?!" she swooned.

Sakura looked over the swords, her gaze finally falling on the price tags which made her choke a little. "Yeah, but there's no way I'd ever afford them. Besides, I'm more hand to hand than weapons."

TenTen looked shocked. "How can you not drool over these?!"

Sakura was about to respond when a shrill squeal made her cover her ears.

TenTen was staring at a pair of white swords. "They have them! They actually have them!" She squeaked again. "Look at the craftsmanship!--the ceramic blades, the silver-plated handles, the ruby dragon hand guards!"

The clerk walked over to TenTen. "Aren't they gorgeous? We just got them in today," she said with a smile.

"I've wanted them ever since I saw them in the Cutting Edge catalog!" A dejected expression made its way onto TenTen's face. "I wish they weren't so expensive."

Suddenly TenTen noticed Sasuke and Naruto blow past the shop. "What the...?"

Sakura looked out the window but she had already missed them. "What is it?"

Tenten frowned. "Not again." With that, she bolted out the door.

Sakura had no idea what was going on but she followed anyway.

* * *

Tenten and Sakura skidded to a halt when they caught sight of their quarry. They had wound up on the edge of the training ground Kakashi had taken team seven to when they had first become gennin. 

Naruto took a running leap into Sasuke's back. Sasuke fell forward, hit the ground and skidded for several feet. Naruto looked triumphant for a second before 'Sasuke' turned into a log. "Shit!" he cursed right before a fist entered his peripheral vision and connected with his face.

Sasuke smirked. "Heh. Even with your fancy new chakra you suck," he taunted smugly.

Tenten sighed in relief.

Sakura gave her a look. "So are you going to tell me why we chased after those two idiots?"

"I thought it was the same thing as the whole Itachi mess ten days ago," Tenten explained as Naruto and Sasuke threw several volleys of punches and kicks at each other.

Sakura chuckled. "Oh." Her eyes widened as over one hundred Narutos suddenly surrounded her former crush. "No matter how many times I see that, it's still amazing," she said in awe. "Not that I'd ever tell him that," she added quickly.

Tenten watch as Sasuke destroyed several bunshins. She looked back at Sakura. "Why not?"

Sakura looked a little stunned. "Because his ego is already ridiculous," she said with a laugh.

Tenten laughed as well. "You wanna join 'em?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. It's almost time for dinner. My mom will be mad if I'm late."

"Suit yourself," Tenten replied with a shrug.

"Bye," Sakura said she walked away.

"Later." Once Sakura was out of sight TenTen ran towards the boys.

* * *

Naruto flipped sideways over Sasuke's head and hit him in the chest with a spin kick. Sasuke threw a back-fisted punch at Naruto's head but he dodged it and punched at Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke blocked the punch with his forearm and jumped backwards. He was getting extremely frustrated. Naruto's taijutsu was now nearly as good as his. He was even starting to wonder if he would win this round simply because he knew his brother was such a stamina freak. _"Okay, time to show him who the genius is,"_ he thought smugly. "Sharingan!" 

Naruto smirked. "So that's how you wanna play it, huh?" He directed chakra to his eyes. "Tamagan!"

Tenten stopped short in her run. Now that they were using doujutsu she didn't have a chance in hell of managing to hold her own. In defeat, she sat down and watched the fight.

Out of the corner of his eye Sasuke noticed Tenten sitting on the far edge of the field. For some reason he couldn't place he _really_ didn't want to lose in front of her. He jumped in the air and dove for Naruto with his fist outstretched.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's fist and prepared to toss him aside but Sasuke used the leverage offered by Naruto's hand as a push off point and kicked him in the stomach with both feet.

Rolling quickly to one side, Naruto barely managed to avoid Sasuke's fist—which collided with the dirt—and pulled off a short heel kick to Sasuke's shin—bringing him down. Both boys leapt back to their feet and slide into their stances. Just then a voice called out from the road.

"Oi! Naruto!" Tomoyo called with her arms folded and a look of irritation on her face. "I thought you were just gonna get a snack?!"

Naruto pointed at Sasuke. "Don't look at me! This teme started it!"

"I didn't force you to come after me," Sasuke retorted with a smirk.

Tomoyo sighed. "Are you gonna train tonight or what?"

Naruto gave his cousin a sheepish grin. "Hai." He turned to Sasuke. "You're lucky she came along. I definitely would've won," he taunted.

"In your dreams, dobe," Sasuke retorted.

Naruto laughed. "Ja."

"Ja," Sasuke replied with a smirk.

Naruto walked away and Tenten trotted over to Sasuke. "Nice moves," she said cheerfully. She could have sworn she saw a tinge of pink on the Uchiha's cheeks but it was gone so fast that she chalked it up to her imagination running away with her.

"Thanks," Sasuke replied. He walked over to the river and sat down on the bank. Tenten followed suit.

After a moment of silence Tenten spoke. "Do you ever think about your future after you kill Itachi?"

Sasuke looked at her in surprise and then stared up into the sky. "Not really. I mean, assuming I manage to kill him without killing myself my only other goal is to revive my clan."

"Hmm." Tenten looked at the sky also. "Which is more important to you?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, although he didn't look at her. "I never really thought about it."

Tenten frowned. "Well, how are you gonna revive your clan if you're dead?"

Sasuke snorted. "I can't, obviously."

Tenten put her arms behind her head allowed her body to fall backwards onto the soft dirt. "Well...I hope you don't die."

Sasuke's eyes fluttered in surprise before his expression fell into a smile. "Thanks." He laid on the ground and the two stared up at the sky together.

* * *

Naruto and Tomoyo sat, once again, in the middle of the Namikaze training field, which was now bordered on three sides by walls made from the trees Tomoyo had taken down earlier. 

Tomoyo handed Naruto a brush and a scroll. "Okay kiddo," she said with a grin, "Let's see what you got."

Naruto took the writing implements and set about the task at hand. When he was done painting the symbols—which took much less time than before—he placed the rock in the center of the sealing circle. "Fuuin no jutsu!" When the smoke cleared the rock was gone. Naruto's eyes lit up like stars. "Yatta!"

Tomoyo grinned. "Yes!" she exclaimed, accentuating it by clenching her fist in front of her. "Great job, Naruto. I knew you could do it." She took another blank scroll from her bag. "Okay. Now why don't we try sealing a weapon or two for you to use on the field."

Naruto took the scroll and stared at it for a moment before his smile widened. "Nah. I got a better idea."

* * *

Takaifuujin, Kazekage of Suna, looked over the letter he had just completed writing. It had been difficult to put those words on paper, but he knew it had been the right thing to do. He folded the letter, put it in a small leather pouch and tied it to the leg of the falcon waiting on his desk—then he stood, walked over to the window and released the raptor. "Quick speed, my friend. Fly to the boy...I have wronged."

* * *

Tsunade looked up curiously when she heard a tapping on her window and was surprised to see a messenger bird from Suna. She opened the window, took the small pouch off its leg and gave the bird a bit of fish. As the bird flew away she took the letter out—unfolding it as she sat in her chair. Her eyebrows raised as she read the contents and her expression fell into a satisfied smile. "Shikamaru," she called out. 

The boy in question opened the door to the office. "Hai, Tsunade-sama?"

"Find Naruto for me please," Tsunade asked pleasantly.

Shikamaru nodded. "Hai, Tsunade-sama."

* * *

Naruto was walking home when he noticed Shikamaru coming towards him. "Yo, Shikamaru," he said cheerfully. 

"There you are." Shikamaru jogged over to his target. "Tsunade-sama wants to talk to you," he said plainly.

"About what?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "She didn't say."

Naruto frowned at the lack of forthcoming information. "Hmm. Okay, let's go."

* * *

A knock sounded on Tsunade's door. "Yes?" 

Shikamaru's head appeared once again. "Naruto's here."

Tsunade nodded in appreciation. "Send him on in."

Shikamaru nodded and left.

Naruto walked through the door and plopped himself down in the chair opposite his mother. "What's up?"

Tsunade picked up the letter off her desk and handed it to her son. "This," she replied with a knowing smile.

Naruto's face crinkled into a questioning look as he took the letter. "Who's it from?"

"The Kazekage."

A nervous lump instantly solidified itself in Naruto's throat. What could he possibly want? He lifted the letter to his eyes and began to read.

_Dear Naruto, _

_This is not easy to say, but I made a serious error while you were here. I let you believe you were responsible for my daughter's death._ Naruto's expression became confused. _Yes, you accidentally delivered the final blow, but the bulk of the blame is solely on my shoulders. _

_I loved my daughter very much, but I was not a good father. After her mother died I spent very little time with her and when I did our conversations consisted mainly of her duties as the daughter of a Kazekage. _

_One day a boy around her age came to Suna. He and Katsura began to spend a lot of time together and I did not approve. I forbade her to see him...and that was my final mistake as her father, for she was gone the next morning. I had failed to see that her spirit was withering here. That boy offered her an escape and she took it. _

_So, you see, her death is my fault, not yours. I was so grief stricken when I learned what happened in Ganshou that my mind needed someone to blame other than myself. You, who were innocent of the crime __**I**__ had committed, were unfortunately the easiest one to criminalize. I have made a grievous error and for this transgression I deeply apologize. _

_I may, however, have a chance to make it up to you. I have, in my possession, something that belongs to your family. It is a scroll that was stolen from Konoha some time ago. I knew you were a Namikaze from the moment I saw you, but decided against saying so lest it bring about uncomfortable questions. I am sending Gaara, Temari and Kankuro to deliver the scroll to you. _

_I hope that one day you can forgive me for my mistakes. _

_Sincerely, _

_Takaifuujin, Kazekage of Suna_

Naruto's face was a mixture of relief, understanding and happiness.

Tsunade broke the silence. "Feel better?" she asked kindly.

Naruto nodded and very quickly began to feel excitement growing in his chest. He grinned widely. "Yeah...and I can't wait for them to get here!"

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

((Dives into RPR)) Dunno if I need it but better safe than sorry. Lol. This story is really getting away from me ((Glares at Morgan)). Morgan: What? I'm just doing my job? 

Hmmm—what could be in that scroll? And no, I will not tell anyone, so don't ask. You're welcome to guess though. :)

Tenten and Sasuke are progressing nicely I think. Although anyone expecting anything major to happen with those two will be waiting for quite a while. This is relationship that must be taken extremely slowly in order for it to work.

Crakbaby pointed out that I should've had some stuff about patrols going out to look for Itachi after his attempt to hurt Naruto but I thought you guys would just assume that they did. What do you guys think? Should I mention it somewhere or is it not important?

I've changed the name of Naruto's doujutsu. Sugikongan just didn't flow well when spoken out loud. So it is now called "Tamagan" Which just means "Soul Eyes".

I apologize for how short this chapter is but it's the unfortunate trade-off of keeping up a weekly release schedule. Sometimes the ideas just don't come easy. And on that note—please stop complaining that they're too short. They average 3000 words or more (With the occasional exception) and that's one per week. Please try and understand that I have a family and also have other projects and things that need to get done besides this fic. The only thing you succeed in doing when you complain about the chapter length is making me feel underappreciated.

As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your wonderful reviews. They make me very happy. See you next week:)

Ja na,

Song


	17. Inheritance

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 17

Ack. Sorry this is a week late. Ever since my beta's (Well, most of them) went back to school it's been hard to catch them online and also I have six ponies to make. Lol.

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Hinata found Naruto staring at Konoha's front gate. "Naruto-kun?" 

Naruto smiled and hugged her. "Hey, Hina-chan!"

"Would you like to take a walk?" Hinata asked cheerfully.

Naruto looked back at the gate uneasily. "Ummm."

"I'm sure Tsunade-sama will send for you when they get here," Hinata offered.

Naruto glanced back at the gate once again before replying. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's go," he said, offering her his hand.

Hinata took it gladly and the two set off. She looked at his hair as they walked. The day was bright and warm, as it often was in mid-July, and the sun shone on Naruto's golden locks, giving them a soft, almost ethereal glow. She just couldn't fathom how she'd managed to have even the slightest chance with such a beautiful boy, never mind become his girlfriend. She sighed happily and rested her head on his shoulder.

Naruto felt the slight pressure on his shoulder and smiled. "I love you," he said as he 'hugged' her head with his own.

"I love you too," Hinata replied.

They walked slowly, reveling in the beauty of the day. Cool breezes brought with them the scent of fresh cut flowers from Ino's shop. When they reached the center of the village Naruto suddenly got an idea. "Hey! You wanna see the Namikaze complex?"

Hinata removed her head from Naruto's shoulder and smiled. "I'd love to!"

Naruto grinned but it quickly fell away as he saw Shikamaru heading toward them. _"Aww man."_

"Yo, Naruto. Tsu..." Shikamaru began.

"Yeah yeah. Baa-chan wants to see me," Naruto grumbled.

Shikamaru simply cocked an eyebrow in response.

Naruto sighed and turned to Hinata. "Sorry, Hina-chan. Looks like we'll hafta go later."

Hinata smiled. "It's okay." She gave him a quick kiss. "I can wait."

Naruto hugged her. "I'll see you soon."

Hinata nodded. "Nhm!"

Naruto frowned as he watched her walk away, then turned to Shikamaru. "Let's go," he groaned.

Shikamaru folded his arms. "I'm just the messenger, Naruto. If you want to complain, complain to Tsunade-sama when we get there," he said in a bored and slightly irritated tone.

Naruto rolled his eyes and began walking as Shikamaru took the lead. "Yeah yeah."

Shikamaru sighed._ "How troublesome."_

* * *

Naruto walked into his mother's office to find Sasuke and Sakura already seated in two of the three extra chairs in the room. He looked at them curiously and sat down. 

"Okay. Now that my son has seen fit to grace us with his presence," Tsunade said with a chuckle, "I have some news for you three."

"News?" Sakura parroted.

"Well—you all know that the chuunin exams will be coming up in just over two months," Tsunade replied.

The teenagers nodded.

"I've decided that it's finally time for your second try," Tsunade said with a huge smile.

Naruto and Sakura exchanged looks of excitement while Sasuke sat there with a satisfied smirk, which was about as close to excitement as he got.

"The other teams from your graduating class will be taking the exams along with you—And so will Gai's team." Her smile seemed to change a little. "There is one thing you need to be aware of though. These exams will be taking place in Amegakure (a/n- Hidden Village of Rain)."

Looks of shock were instantly on the faces of team seven. Sakura found her voice first. "But, Tsunade-sama—Ame isn't one of the five great shinobi nations."

"And they're really unstable!" Naruto added.

Sakura looked at Naruto in surprise.

"What? You're not the only one who reads," Naruto countered indignantly.

Tsunade cleared her throat to bring her young soldiers back into focus. "It's a very central location, which makes it more convenient and Ame has some very interesting terrain. We thought it would be a good change of pace," she explained. "And besides, since we don't know much about Ame this is a good chance for some information gathering," she finished with a sly smile.

Sakura smiled in acceptance of the explanation, Sasuke looked contemplative, and Naruto looked completely unconvinced.

"Now, I expect nothing but the best from you three. Don't disappoint me," Tsunade said with a smile.

All three teens nodded and Naruto gave a loud, "Osu!" with a salute.

Tsunade chuckled. "Alright then—get outta here," she said with a short toss of her head in the direction of the door, "I got work to do."

* * *

Tomoyo sat on the playground swings thinking as she swung lazily back and forth. The soft wind should have been soothing but it only seemed to accentuate the sadness she felt. She didn't know how long she'd been there—she hadn't kept track. Even when the shadows had become long and reaching, she didn't stir...until a gentle hand slid over her shoulder. 

"I thought I'd find you here," Kakashi said softly. He crouched down next to her. "Why did you run off so suddenly?"

Tomoyo's head sank a bit lower in response and it was then that Kakashi noticed the piece of paper crumpled in between her hand and the swing chain. "Oh..." He sat down and his head sunk a little as well, "...I see."

Tomoyo's soft, tear-choked voice broke the anguished silence. "There's no one." Silence. "There's no family to put on this list." She crunched the paper even more tightly so that her knuckles turned white. "They're all gone," she said as fresh tears began to fall. "My cousins, my sister, my parents, grandparents...all gone."

Kakashi looked at her. "Not all gone," he said gently. "There's a blonde boy who lives not far from here who would disagree."

"I love Naruto very much—and I'm grateful to have him—but he's not one of the faces I always imagined would see my wedding day. My father won't be there to give me away. My mom won't be there fuss over me, and fix my hair. Minato won't be there to tease me about finally acting like an adult. Noriko won't be there to...to..." she began crying loudly.

Kakashi put his arms around her. The paper dropped away from her hand and she collapsed into him.

* * *

"Are you going to simply stare at us all day or are you going to take us to the Hokage?" Gaara asked of the chuunin in front of him. He was trying his best to be patient. He knew if he was going to be Kazekage one day it was a skill he would need, but this woman was testing his last nerve. Before he met Naruto he had delighted in the fact that people were afraid of him on sight, but now it irritated him to no end. 

The chuunin swallowed her fear of the young man in front of her and spoke. "Of course. Follow me please."

The orange light of the setting sun illuminated their path as Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro followed the chuunin to the Hokage tower.

Hinata stared in wonder at Naruto's family home. "It's wonderful, Naruto-kun!" She didn't know what it was, but something about the place spoke to her. She felt as if it was rich with life just waiting to be uncovered.

Naruto stepped up beside her. "Sorry we won't be able to look at it for long."

Hinata smiled at him. "That's alright. I still got to see it today." She walked over to the fountain. "I can't wait to see what it looks like when you're done fixing it."

"Yeah, well, that'll have ta wait till I make jounin. I just don't make enough money right now," Naruto said with rueful smile.

"If it's about getting someone to do the work then I'll help," Hinata offered.

"Thanks, Hina-chan." Naruto looked around for a moment. "I guess we could at least do the cleaning parts. We'd definitely need more people though."

"Naruto," Tomoyo's voice sounded behind them.

"What is it?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"Tsunade-sama needs to see you," Tomoyo explained.

Naruto's jaw dropped. "A-gain?!" he asked incredulously.

Tomoyo giggled. "Don't worry. You'll be happy about this visit," she said with a wink.

* * *

Naruto grinned when he saw the Suna siblings. "Hey, Gaara!" he said loudly. 

The boy in question covered his ears and winced at the volume coming from his friend. Once he thought the danger of eardrum destruction was past he uncovered his ears and spoke. "Hello, Naruto," he said with an attempt at a smile.

Naruto put his hands on the desk, push upwards and swiveled himself around so that his butt landed on the front edge of Tsunade's desk—scattering a few papers as he did so.

Tsunade's face fell into a deep frown. "Oi," she said in a low tone as she folded her arms.

Naruto was too excited to notice. He leaned forward towards the Suna siblings. "So! So! Where is it?"

Tsunade's eyebrow began to twitch and her arms unfolded, leaving her right hand free to form a fist. "Oi..."

"What kind of scroll is it?!" Naruto continued.

"Get your butt off my desk!" Tsunade yelled while simultaneously using her arm to sweep her son off sideways and onto the floor. He landed in a heap next to the wall to her left.

Naruto sat up quickly. "That hurt, Baa-chan!"

Tsunade folded her arms once again—this time in satisfaction—and raised her eyebrows. "Stay off my desk next time."

While Naruto fumed Temari brought a large scroll out of the bag she had with her. Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise. "That's much bigger than I was expecting. Do you know what's in it?"

Temari shook her head. "No one can get it open. It has a blood seal."

Naruto had long since stopped fuming and was now paying rapt attention. "A blood seal? You mean only someone from my family can open it?"

Temari nodded and held out the scroll. "Here. I'm curious as hell about what's in this thing," she said with wry smile.

Naruto stood and gingerly took the scroll from Temari's hands. He turned it until he saw a seal in the middle on one side. Thanks to his training with Tomoyo and his contract with the frogs he knew exactly how to open it. He bit down on the pad of his thumb and pressed it to the center of the seal. There was a popping sound along with a small puff of smoke and the edge of the scroll fell loose.

He sat down on the floor and proceeded to carefully unroll his bit of family heritage. When it was fully open for all to see both he and Tsunade gasped. "Kaa-san...that's..."

"I know," Tsunade answered quietly.

Kankuro was getting irritated. "Well? What is it already?!"

Naruto spoke up. "It's a summoning contract...for dragons," he said in disbelieving awe.

Temari's expression went from shock to outright skepticism. "What?! Dragons aren't real."

Naruto looked at Temari defensively. "It's right there!" he said as he jabbed his fingers at the contract.

Tsunade also looked skeptical. "I don't want to believe they came all this way for a work of fiction, Naruto, but Temari does make a point," she said carefully.

Naruto frowned and quickly rolled up his scroll. "My clan wouldn't put a blood seal on something that was fake!" He stood up. "And I'll prove it!" He stalked out of the office.

"Naruto!" Tsunade called out. When he didn't return she sighed heavily. "I'm sorry about that. He can be really headstrong sometimes."

Kankuro cocked an eyebrow. "We noticed."

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Yes, well...seeing as how it's so late, would you like to stay in Konoha for the night?"

"Yes—thank you," Temari replied with a polite nod.

Tsunade smiled. "Shikamaru."

Shikamaru appeared quickly. "Hai, Tsunade-sama?"

"Please make sure that our guests have comfortable rooms for the night."

Shikamaru sighed inwardly. He was starting to wonder why he bothered becoming a chuunin in the first place, seeing as how most of the time he was nothing more than a glorified messenger boy. "Hai."

* * *

As Shikamaru and the Suna team walked toward the inn Temari couldn't stop herself from making occasional glances in the direction of her guide's rear end. It irritated her to no end that she was attracted to such a weakling—albeit an incredibly smart, kinda cute weakling. _"Damn my hormones,"_ she grumbled in her mind. 

They stopped at a long, two-story building and Shikamaru handed Temari a set of keys. "Here. Just tell them you want the guest rooms," he said before turning around to leave.

"Shikamaru..." Temari began.

The boy in question turned around. "Yeah?"

"Night," Temari finished pathetically, silently cursing herself for not coming up with something more interesting.

Shikamaru smirked, then smiled. "Night."

Shikamaru walked away and Temari sighed with disappointment. As the siblings walked into the building she noticed Kankuro covering his mouth with his hand as he snickered. "Shut the hell up or I'm gonna shove that puppet up your ass."

Kankuro's eyes widened. He instantly stopped laughing and put a few more feet of distance between himself and his sister.

* * *

Naruto knew he had acted childish, but he couldn't help it. He'd spent all day in anticipation of the scroll he now held and there was a very good chance it was nothing but junk. He knew there was probably no point to it, but made his way through the streets to his house, ran up to his room and grabbed a flashlight. If he was going to try this then there was only one safe place.

* * *

Naruto sat in the middle of the Namikaze training field with the unrolled scroll on the ground in front of him. The blood pounded in his ears as he bit the pad of his left thumb and dabbed the resulting blood on each of his other fingers. He signed the contract—which had on it a couple other names he didn't recognize—and was about to press his fingers down at the bottom—the same as he had done with the frog scroll. Suddenly, an image of Gama Bunta flashed through his mind and then a memory of a conversation he'd had with Jiraiya while they had been training together. 

_(("Hey, Ero sennin?" Naruto asked as they made their way toward the town they would be staying at for a few days. _

_Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched. "Yeah?" _

"_Now that I have so much more chakra, can I get some more summons? It would be so cool so summon dogs like Kakashi sensei," Naruto said with a grin. _

_Jiraiya shook his head. "Sorry. No can do." _

_Naruto frowned. "Why?" _

"_Because you can't have more than one summoning contract at a time. You are bound to the contract by blood and to take another contract would break that bond." _

_Naruto hung his head in disappointment.)) _

Naruto stared at the contract for a moment, his hand hovering above the space for his fingerprints. He swallowed, realizing just how close he'd come to seriously screwing up. "I'd better talk to Ero-sennin first," with that, he rolled up the scroll and headed home.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Okay, I know some of you are screaming "overpowered" about the whole dragons thing, but please trust me. I have a way to balance things. :) 

Had to get some TemShika in there. I love those two together.

Again, sorry bout how late this chap was. Hopefully next one will be Saturday or Sunday. :)

Ja na,

Song


	18. Education

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 18

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Tsunade was waiting for him in the living room when Naruto got home. She stood up immediately. "Naruto, you didn't sign that scroll did you?" 

"No. I was going to, but I realized I should talk to Ero-Sennin first." He put the dragon scroll on the couch. "Can you find him for me?" he asked as he plopped down next to the scroll.

"Sure—but, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up. "Hm?"

"Please don't throw temper tantrums in front of guests from other hidden villages," Tsunade asked, her expression stern, yet gentle.

"I didn't throw a tantrum. I walked out—and I'm sorry. It's just that..."

Tsunade put up a hand. "I know. You were disappointed."

Naruto nodded.

"Just try to think a little more before you do things." Tsunade closed her eyes in exhaustion. "Well, I'm headed for bed. Night," Tsunade said with a yawn as she stretched her arms over her head.

"Night," Naruto said with a smile, thankful that he hadn't gotten much of a lecture.

"Oh yeah," Tsunade said as she reached the entrance to the hallway, "Kakashi said he wanted to talk to you about something tomorrow morning so try not to go too far till he gets here."

"Okay," Naruto replied with a shrug.

Tsunade chuckled to herself as she made her way up the stairs. "Boy is _he_ in for a surprise."

* * *

"You want me to do WHAT?!" Naruto asked in shock. 

Kakashi chuckled warmly. "I want you to be my best man," he repeated.

Naruto was happy but also confused. "But why me? I thought you'd pick Gai-sensei."

Kakashi and Tomoyo settled down onto the couch in Naruto's living room. Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Because Gai would do something embarrassing."

Naruto frowned as he joined the couple on the couch. "But won't he be disappointed?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Nah. I just told him I wanted you to participate so that you would have the courage to ask Hinata someday." He ignored Naruto's choking sound and went on. "Then he did his whole 'flames of youth'...thing," he said with an off-handed flick of his wrist.

Naruto snorted, then scratched the back of his head. "I guess I'll do it then," he said with a smile.

Tomoyo smiled and hugged her cousin. "Great!" She sat back up and frowned. "Now I just need to find a way to convince Anko-chan to be my maid of honor."

"You know Anko?" Naruto asked in surprise.

Tomoyo smiled. "Yeah. We were best friends when we were kids. Our parents introduced us, hoping I'd keep her in line." She snickered. "She corrupted me instead."

Naruto laughed but then his expression turned sympathetic. "Why'd she say no?"

"Well, she said yes at first but then I told her she had to wear a dress kimono," Tomoyo answered in a dejected tone.

Naruto thought for a moment. "What about Hina-chan or Sakura-chan?"

Tomoyo smiled. "If I can't convince Anko-chan I'll keep them in mind."

It was then that Tsunade came strolling into the room. "Hey, brat, if you wanna go say good bye to Gaara you better do it now."

Naruto's head snapped in his mother's direction. "What?!"

* * *

The Suna team was walking toward the main gates of Konoha when they heard a familiar voice call out to them. 

"Wait!" Naruto yelled as he ran to them.

Gaara raised an eyebrow in interest. "Naruto."

"I didn't think you'd be leaving so soon," Naruto said as he stopped in front of his friends.

"We were only coming to deliver the scroll, not to visit," Gaara answered plainly.

Naruto's shoulders sagged as he breathed out a sigh of disappointment. "Oh, I forgot to say thank you yesterday. And...I'm also sorry...for acting the way I did."

Gaara smiled slightly. "I think we can forgive you."

Temari put a hand on her little brother's shoulder. "We should get going," she said with a warm smile.

"Do you guys mind going ahead for a minute? I need to speak with Naruto," Gaara asked.

Kankuro nodded. "Okay. Just don't take too long. See ya, Naruto," he said with a wave.

"Later," Naruto answered.

Temari stopped and looked over her shoulder and smirked. "Tell that lazy pain in the ass I said goodbye."

Naruto laughed. "You got it." He looked to Gaara. "So, what's up?"

"You won't make Hokage," Gaara said bluntly.

Naruto was immediately on the defensive. "Excuse me?"

"With your current maturity level you just don't have what it takes to be a leader," Gaara explained.

Naruto folded his arms angrily. "Oh, and I suppose you do?"

"Yes, I do. And the way you're reacting to what I've said only proves my point. If you can't even listen to constructive criticism without reacting like a child then how do you expect to lead an entire community?"

The gears in Naruto's mind suddenly began moving and he fell silent.

"Friends help one another..."

Naruto looked up. "Huh?"

"That is why I felt I had to say something. If you want to achieve your dream, you just need to grow up a little. It shouldn't be too hard of a task...for the guy who saved my life," Gaara said with a smile.

Naruto's face broke out in a smile. "Thanks, Gaara," he said, offering his hand.

Gaara nodded. "You are welcome," he said as he took Naruto's hand and shook it. "Goodbye."

"See ya," Naruto said with a cheerful wave. As he watched Gaara walk away he knew what he had to do—and he _knew_ he wasn't going to like it.

* * *

Naruto walked slowly as he headed home. All this time he had only thought about the physical aspect of becoming a Hokage—not the mental. If Gaara hadn't said something... He looked up at his father's face staring down at him from the Hokage monument and his eyes became determined. "I'll make you proud of me."

* * *

Tsunade looked up when she heard the knock on the door of her home office. "Hai?" 

The door opened and Naruto walked in. "Hey," he said, his face serious.

Tsunade looked at her son curiously and stood up. Something about him seemed...different. "Are you okay?"

Naruto took a calming breath and let it out slowly. He lowered himself to his knees and rested his hands on top of them, then bowed his head in respect.

Instantly, a dangerous glint flashed in Tsunade's eyes and they flattened down into a glare. Before Naruto could blink he had a kunai at his throat.

"Who are you?!" Tsunade demanded. "What have you done with my son?!"

"K-K-K-Kaa-san! It's me!" Naruto sputtered.

"Bullshit! My son does NOT bow to me!" Tsunade replied angrily. "Now I will ask you one more time. Where—is—my—son?"

"You told me never to go to bed angry!" Naruto suddenly blurted out.

Tsunade's grip loosened a bit. "What?"

"When I had that fight with Hina-chan. You told me never go to bed angry," Naruto said, praying he had just proven who he was.

Tsunade released her son and dropped her kunai. "You are Naruto." She hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry."

Naruto heaved a great sigh of relief. "It's okay. I guess kneeling was a bit much."

Tsunade released him and checked over his throat for cuts. She was pleased when she found none. She sat down on the floor. "So," she said with a nervous chuckle, "What did you want to see me about?"

"Can you teach me about being a Hokage?" Naruto asked, the serious look back in his eyes.

Tsunade blinked in surprise. "Really?"

Naruto nodded. "Gaara reminded me today that I need more than just strength—And I feel really stupid for not realizing it myself," he finished with a frown.

Tsunade's expression became sympathetic. "You're not stupid. You were just concentrating too hard on one aspect of becoming Hokage. It blinded you to everything else you need to do."

Naruto smiled.

"You know a lot of it will be boring, right?" Tsunade warned.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, but it's something I have to do," he said with determination.

Tsunade smiled. "Okay then. Come with me to the office tomorrow. I just hope it doesn't make you want to pick a new profession," she said with a laugh.

"Huh?"

* * *

Naruto walked along next to his mother with a spring in his step. He was excited to get a preview of what it would be like once he gained the title of Hokage. 

When they reached the door to the Hokage tower the chuunin guard bowed slightly. "Hokage-sama, Naruto-sama," he said with a smile.

Tsunade smiled. "Ohayo." She walked on into the building and Naruto followed.

Once they were upstairs the receptionist greeted them as well. "Ohayo, Tsunade-sama."

"Ohayo, Nabiki. Do you have anything for me this morning?" Tsunade asked.

"Just the usual," Nabiki said, handing Tsunade a stack of papers.

"Arigato," Tsunade replied as she took the stack.

"Hey, Naruto-kun," Nabiki said with a slight wave and a big smile.

"Hey!" Naruto walked over to the desk. "Where've you been lately?"

Nabiki laughed. "Had a couple long missions. I'll come by and see you later."

"Don't need to. I'll be here all day."

Nabiki blinked in surprise. "You will?"

"Yeah. I'm learning about the job of Hokage today. I'm gonna watch Kaa-san," Naruto said proudly.

Nabiki snorted. "Then you're gonna be watching a lot of sleeping."

"I heard that!" came Tsunade's irritated voice from her office.

Nabiki chuckled. "I'll see you later."

"Hai!" Naruto replied. He then walked into the office and shut the door behind him.

* * *

Naruto was ready to shove a kunai through his skull just to escape the boredom. For two hours he had watched his mother follow a pattern of signing papers, sleeping, drinking the occasional cup of sake and arguing with Shizune over the evils of said sake. The pad of paper he'd brought with him to take notes was now covered in drawings of bowls of ramen and he was certain the clock was moving slower than normal just to torment him. 

Finally, Tsunade looked at the clock. "Well, time to go hand out mission assignments," she said as she stood and cracked her neck from side to side.

"Thank GOD!" Naruto blurted out.

Tsunade looked at him and laughed. "Let's go."

* * *

Hinata's eyes widened a bit when she saw Naruto sitting next to Tsunade at the assignment table. "Naruto-kun, what's going on?" 

"I'm learning about being a Hokage," Naruto answered with much less enthusiasm than he had when he'd spoken to Nabiki about it. He still had a small smile on his face though.

Hinata's confusion turned to happiness. "Oh! That's wonderful, Naruto-kun!"

Tsunade looked through her assignment list. "I'm afraid I only have a D rank for you three today," she said to team eight.

"But that's way below our skill level!" Kiba complained.

Tsunade eyed the young Inuzuka. "Well if you'd rather not make any money at all today..."

Kiba sighed in frustration. "Okay okay." He took the paper and team 8 walked away.

"Good luck, Naruto-kun," Hinata called over her shoulder.

Naruto smiled and waved.

Neji, Lee, and Tenten showed up next. "Here you go," Tsunade said while handing them a mission sheet.

Neji looked at the rank and an incredulous expression crossed his features. "But thi..."

"Don't wanna hear it," Tsunade said, cutting him off.

Gai's team walked away with only slightly less grumbling than team eight.

* * *

An hour or so later Naruto and Tsunade were back in her office. Tsunade had gone back to signing papers and Naruto had gone back to doodling on his pad of paper. After yet another hour had passed Shizune came in. "Tsunade-sama?" 

"Hai?" Tsunade answered.

"The zoning director is here to see you," Shizune answered.

Tsunade groaned. "Send him in."

Shizune nodded her head and left. A moment later a man in a black haori and red pants walked into the office and sat down.

"Sakai-san, what can I do for you today?" Tsunade asked pleasantly.

The man sighed. "I'm sorry to bother you with this again, but the situation has gotten worse."

Tsunade frowned. "Did you tell them what I suggested?"

"Yes, and they still say that it is unfair."

Tsunade sighed and put her hand to her forehead. "Oh for crying out loud."

"What's going on?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade looked at her son with a thoughtful expression and then turned back to Sakai. "Sakai-san, would please explain the situation to my son?"

Sakai looked at her in confusion but shrugged and began speaking. "There is a company that would like to put in a new movie theater. It would be in an area zoned for business but it's also right on the border of a residential-only zone. The building they have planned is large and the people living in the houses near it say that it would look terrible and drive down their property values."

"What've you tried?" Naruto asked.

"Compensating them for the value loss, but they won't hear of it."

Naruto thought for a moment. "What if you disguise it?"

"Disguise the theater?" Sakai asked.

"Yeah," Naruto continued with a smile, "What if the theater looked like part of the landscape? Like with a genjutsu or something?"

Tsunade and Sakai looked at each other. "What do you think Sakai?" Tsunade asked.

Sakai put his hand up to his mouth in thought. "Hmmm. A genjutsu just might do the trick." He looked at Naruto with a pleased expression. "Thank you, Naruto-sama," he said with a slight bow of his head.

Naruto reciprocated the nod. "No problem," he said with a big grin.

Sakai stood up. "I'll be on my way then," he said to Tsunade.

"Good luck," Tsunade answered.

"I'm sure I won't need it, but thank you." Sakai then turned around and left.

Tsunade turned to her son. "Great job, kiddo," she said, beaming with motherly pride.

Naruto's smile could not have been any wider.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

That was fun. Lol. Not a whole lot happened but I really feel this chapter got the story moving a little bit more. 

If anyone is interested, I posted the first chapter of my original novel up on fictionpress dot net. My author name on there is the same. Serious critique is more than welcome seeing as how I'd like to publish it one day.

Charu-chan is working on a scene from chapter 1 of book 1 and has promised me it will be out by the end of this month. I've seen some rough sketches and let me tell you, the girl has out done herself. I can't WAIT to see the whole thing. :)

For anyone who didn't see it yet, I wrote a comedy Naruto one-shot. It's in my profile. Hope ya like it.

The next chapter may or may not be out this weekend I have a really bad chest cold so it's taking a lot out of me.

I've never seen anyone address the issue of Naruto learning about the less exciting part of being Hokage so I thought it'd be fun to try. Plus it's an important thing for him to think about.

See you guys this weekend...hopefully.


	19. It's Real

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 19

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

After three days of going to work with his mother Naruto decided the first thing he was going to do as Hokage would be to find some way to reduce the amount of paperwork. He yawned for what seemed like the millionth time as Tsunade finished signing yet another paper. 

Tsunade picked up a manila envelope from her desk and pulled out a new set of papers. Naruto looked up in minor interest. The papers Tsunade had been signing until that point had all just been stacked on her desk. Why were these different?

"What are those, Kaa-san?"

Tsunade looked at Naruto thoughtfully. "You know what? These are some things you might actually be able to help me with," she said with a smile.

Naruto immediately hopped off his chair. "Really?!"

Tsunade nodded. "Yup. Drag that chair over here."

Naruto did as instructed and sat down.

"Okay," Tsunade said as she picked up the top paper, "these are the newest mission requests. One of your jobs as Hokage would be to go through these, decide which ones we will take on and give them a rank." She pointed at the top right of the page. "This tells you what kind of mission it is."

Naruto looked at the mission type curiously. "Grunt work?"

Tsunade laughed. "Anything that doesn't involve fighting or potential fighting gets this title. Most of these get a D rank."

As Naruto looked over the mission specifics he was very glad he was no longer a first year rookie. _"Tilling a farm field. Yuck."_

"Okay then," Tsunade pointed to a space in the upper left. "The mission rank goes here."

Naruto wrote a 'D' in the space and they moved on to the next request.

* * *

Anko's arms were folded and she walked along stiffly, trying desperately to ignore her current living shadow. 

"Pleeeeeease, Anko-chan?" Tomoyo pleaded as she hopped backwards in front of her friend.

Anko's eye twitched. "No."

"Come on! You're the only adult friend I have left from the old days."

"No I'm not. Ask Iruka. I'm sure he'd look great in a dress Kimono," Anko answered as she continued walking.

Tomoyo's smile dropped off her face like a stone and she stopped walking, causing Anko to halt in her tracks. "You'd really say no to being part of the most important day of my life over a stupid dress kimono?"

Anko groaned. She could easily say no to Tomoyo when Tomoyo was being all perky and cute, but that pout—that god dammed depressed pout. It made her feel guilty like nothing else in existence. She sighed loudly in defeat. "Fine."

Tomoyo's face pulled a complete one-eighty. "YATTA!" She proceeded to squeeze the life out of the woman in front of her. "Thank you, Anko-chan!"

"Yeah yeah. Get off already would ya?" Anko said as she tried to move Tomoyo's arms.

Tomoyo let go. "Sorry. I'm just so happy!"

"But if that dress kimono is pink I'll use your intestines for Christmas garland," Anko threatened with a finger pointed at Tomoyo.

Tomoyo sweat-dropped and laughed nervously. "Oh come on. Who would want pink kimonos for their wedding?"

Anko eyed her suspiciously for a moment. "Okay. I'll see you later. I need my dango fix."

As soon as Anko was out of site Tomoyo pulled a pen and a small notepad out of her pocket. She looked down a list that said _'wedding shopping'_ at the top. Next to _'kimonos'_ she crossed out _pink _and quickly wrote _purple_.

* * *

Naruto marked an A at the top of the last paper and Tsunade smiled in satisfaction. "I think you did really well, kiddo." 

Naruto grinned but it faded a bit as he caught sight of another envelope on the desk. This one was black. "What's in that one?"

Tsunade's face darkened. "Those are the assassination requests. You don't need to worry about those until you actually become Hokage." She took the envelope and put it in her desk drawer.

Naruto's expression became solemn. "Oh..."

A knock sounded on the door. "Hai?"

Tomoyo poked her head in. "Can I borrow Naruto for a bit?"

Tsunade looked at Naruto. "I think you've had enough for one day."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks, Kaa-san." He got up and followed Tomoyo out the door.

* * *

"That's great!" Naruto exclaimed as they walked down the main street. 

Tomoyo's smile widened. "Now I just have to pick out dress kimonos in a different color. Originally the bridesmaids were going to wear pink," she said with a wince.

Naruto made a face. "So anyway, what'd you need me for?"

"Well, two things actually," Tomoyo answered. "I wanted to try teaching you how to make the special kunai for hiraishin today."

"Yosh!" Naruto exclaimed.

Tomoyo chuckled. "And I thought since I'm shopping for wedding outfits anyway we should see if we can find you a formal kimono too."

Naruto grimaced. "Do we have to?" Tomoyo gave him a withering look and he relented immediately. "Okay okay. Let's get this over with so I can train."

Tomoyo smiled and they continued walking.

* * *

Naruto waited on a metal bench next to the fitting rooms. He glanced around the store. Being one of only two wedding shops in the city allowed it to be very large. There were separate sections for bride, groom, children and bridal party—and of course the latter of the two were also divided by gender. He had lost sight of his cousin long ago and was now tapping his fingers impatiently. 

It was about then that Tomoyo showed up with an armload of boy's formal kimonos, all in black. She unloaded them onto the counter.

"How many?" the clerk asked.

"Six."

The clerk handed Tomoyo a plastic card with a six on it, which Tomoyo promptly handed off to her cousin. "Okay. You try these on and I'll see what else I can find." With that she disappeared once again into the sea of clothing, completely ignoring the thunderstruck look on Naruto's face.

* * *

A half hour later Tomoyo and Naruto walked out of the doors of the wedding shop, loaded down with bags and packages. Naruto held two boxes and his kimono. Tomoyo had six boxes and two outfits in plastic bags on coat hangers. 

After watching Tomoyo's pile nearly topple twice Naruto got an idea. "Hang on a sec."

"What?" Tomoyo asked around her mountain of boxes.

Naruto put his hands in his favorite seal. Four Narutos appeared. "Got a mission for you guys." He pointed at one bunshin. "You take my stuff home."

The bunshin gave a short salute. "Osu!" it picked up the stuff and walked away.

"And you guys take this stuff to Tomoyo-chan's place," Naruto instructed to the other clones.

The clones mimicked the clone that had left before them.

Naruto, who was quite pleased with himself, turned to his cousin. "See? Now we can go train."

Tomoyo nodded and laughed, although she was annoyed that she hadn't come up with that solution herself. "Okay then. Let's go."

* * *

Naruto turned his father's kunai over and over again, occasionally running his fingers over the sai-like prongs at the hilt. _All kunai should be made like this. It'd be way better for blocking_. 

"Okay," Tomoyo said as she removed some rolls of paper strips and some paintbrushes and ink from her bag, "Today you're gonna practice writing the kanji for hiraishin. When you're done wrap them on the kunai. These," she said, pointing to Minato's kunai, "will be your shiki (a/n-rite). These markers will pull you to them when you activate the jutsu. It's kinda like a summoning in reverse. You can use anything, really, but kunai are very convenient." She unrolled a single strip that already had something on it. "These are the symbols for the seal. You practice—I'm going to do some more work on the field."

She slung her bag over her shoulder, took a few steps toward the middle of the field then stopped and made a face as she eyed all the stumps still left from her little demolition spree. She pulled a foot long scroll from her bag and unrolled it. "Good thing I brought this. I'm definitely gonna need help for this one," she said with a smile.

Naruto blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

Tomoyo bit her thumb, made a few seals and slammed her hand to the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" There was a popping sound and a cloud of smoke appeared.

When the smoke dissipated Naruto was surprised to see ten rodent-like animals of various sizes. The largest one being around the size of a moose. He'd never seen anything like them. "What are they?" he asked with wide eyes.

Tomoyo grinned. "Meerkats. I got the scroll from a foreign traveler while I was in Ganshou."

A meerkat the size of a medium dog spoke up. "Oi. Don't talk about us like we're not even here."

Tomoyo smiled apologetically. "Gomen, Idohori." She pointed at her cousin. "This is Naruto, my little cousin." Several greetings went to Naruto from the group.

"Hey guys," Naruto said with a grin.

"Okay everyone. I got a job for you," Tomoyo explained. She pointed to the stumps. "I need these dug up please."

Idohori cocked an eye ridge. "And what do we get for so much work? We have burrows to maintain you know."

Tomoyo chuckled. "Of course you'll get the usual treat."

A loud cheer went up from the group and they went to work on the closest stump.

Naruto looked at Tomoyo. "What's 'the usual treat'?"

Tomoyo grinned. "Dango."

Naruto laughed and went back to his seal practice.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Pein, leader of the Akatsuki, asked his subordinate. 

Itachi nodded. "Hai."

"So, Naruto will be attending the chuunin exam. So many attempts to capture him and all we had to do was wait for him to show up on our doorstep." Pein allowed himself a small smirk. "The time has come..."

* * *

Tomoyo handed the last stick of dango to Idohori. "Thanks a bunch, guys. You really saved me." 

Idohori nodded. "You know us—anything for dango," he said with a wink. He turned to his friends. "Mina! We're going!"

A shout of agreement sounded from the other meerkats.

Idohori held up a paw. "Ja!" and all of them disappeared.

Tomoyo laughed and went to check up on Naruto. "How're you doing over here?"

Naruto smiled and held up ten kunai wrapped in the seal covered strips. "All set. When do we start?"

Tomoyo look up at the orange colors of the sunset. "Friday. This isn't a jutsu you should practice in the dark and I have more wedding stuff to do." She sighed happily. "I can't wait till Saturday."

"Are you sure you won't make him get rid of those stupid books?"

Tomoyo just laughed and walked away. Naruto was a bit perturbed but he followed her anyway.

* * *

Friday morning Tsunade looked over Sasuke's latest psych evaluation report and sighed. Shizune looked at her with concern. "What is it, Tsunade-sama?" 

Tsunade closed her eyes and rubbed them with her fingers. "I'm starting to think the _only_ way to settle Sasuke down is to have Itachi killed."

Shizune blinked in surprise. "An assassination?"

"I would...if I wasn't positive Sasuke would go even more off the deep end because he was denied his revenge," Tsunade said with a frustrated scowl.

Shizune sighed sympathetically and then perked up like she'd had an idea. "Tsunade-sama—What if we send him on the mission to that hideout Jiraiya found?"

Tsunade looked skeptical. "Send him to an abandoned Akatsuki lair? What good would that do?"

"It might at least let him feel like he's doing something towards finding Itachi," Shizune offered.

Tsunade frowned in thought. "Alright. Although I think I'll send all of team seven. They haven't had a mission above D-rank in weeks and Naruto's getting restless," she said with a wince.

Shizune giggled. "I'll send for them."

Tsunade held up a hand. "Not yet. I need to decide on other team members. Not to mention that Tomoyo's wedding is on Saturday and I know Naruto would be upset if he had to miss it."

"It'll be interesting seeing Naruto-kun in formal clothing," Shizune said with an amused smile.

Tsunade chuckled. "Indeed."

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, and ten Naruto clones were cutting ivy off of various buildings and structures around the Namikaze complex. Sasuke was working on a particularly stubborn vine on a rooftop and it was pissing him off. "Remind me why I agreed to this?" he demanded of his brother who was several feet away, working on the dragon fountain. 

Naruto looked up and resisted the urge to laugh at the leaf that was residing in Sasuke's hair. "Because we're family and this is partially yours now too," he stated. "Besides," Naruto said as he climbed to the top of the fountain, "It's nice to have company besides _them_," he said as he jabbed a thumb backwards at three of the clones who were nearby.

Sasuke smirked and went back to his current vine.

* * *

Tomoyo walked into the Namikaze complex with a spring in her step. "Naruto-kun!" she said as she passed through the gate. "I hope you're ready to work hard because..." Her words failed her and her mouth hung open. The complex wasn't finished by any stretch of the imagination, but ninety percent of the vines and other organic debris were completely gone. 

In the middle of it all sat Naruto and Sasuke. The boys were sitting on the cobblestone street in front of the fountain. Naruto had a huge smile on his face and Sasuke wore a self-satisfied smirk.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun! It looks wonderful!" Tomoyo exclaimed in awe. She walked over and gave each of them a hug—Sasuke grimaced at this. "It's an awesome surprise! Thank you both so much!"

"Don't look at me. It was the dobe's idea," Sasuke explained.

Tomoyo laughed a little. "Yeah, but you still helped."

Sasuke smirked again.

Tomoyo held up her bag. "Well, let's get to work." She looked at Sasuke. "You gonna hang around?" she asked with a smile.

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't have anything better to do."

Tomoyo smiled and led the way. Naruto and Sasuke followed behind her.

As they neared the entrance to the field Naruto thoughts began to wander. "Neh, Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"You think it's possible to combine rasengan and chidori?" Naruto asked offhandedly.

Sasuke's eyebrows went up and then flattened into a thoughtful scowl. "I don't think so. The way they use chakra is too different."

Naruto frowned.

"Besides—we don't know if you're the right elemental type to use lightning."

"Elemental type?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto with an incredulous expression. "Kakashi-sensei never told you about elements?!"

Naruto shook his head.

Sasuke smacked his hand to his forehead. "Of all the stupid—just ask Kakashi-sensei about it. I don't feel like explaining."

* * *

Sasuke sat down on a nearby rock as Tomoyo handed Naruto the kunai he had made five days before. 

"Okay. First things first." She held out her hand. "Shiki please." Naruto handed her the kunai. "Lemme show you how it's done," she said with a grin. She took a few steps away from the boys and threw a seal kunai into one of the wooden practice dummies, then put her hands into the rabbit seal. There had been no smoke, no sound, no warning of any kind—yet she had instantly vanished and reappeared at her destination.

Naruto's jaw dropped and Sasuke's eyes were wide.

"A—Amazing," Naruto commented in awe.

Tomoyo smiled, threw the shiki at the boys' feet and teleported back. "Now it's your turn. Take one of your shiki and rub a small amount of blood on the seal. This will connect you to it." Naruto was about to bite his thumb when Tomoyo grabbed his hand. "Hang on a sec." She reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a pinky ring. It was silver and had a small bump on one side. She placed it in Naruto's hand.

Naruto's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "What's this?"

"This is something I've been working on in my spare time the last couple weeks. It's a special summoning ring." Tomoyo held up her right hand. On her pinky was a similar ring, only it was gold in color and thinner to be more lady-like. She pointed to the small bump which was situated on the under side of her finger. "This casing contains a very small pin. When you push in it with your thumb," she said as she demonstrated, "the casing is pushed back and the pin punctures your skin." She proudly showed the bead of blood ballooning out of the hole the pin had made and smiled. "Makes things faster and less painful," she said with a laugh.

Naruto looked at the ring for a moment, then shrugged and put it on.

"You remember what I did?" Tomoyo asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Let's see what you got then," Tomoyo said with her thumb up.

Naruto used the ring and smiled. It was much more convenient than biting his thumb. He rubbed the resulting blood on the shiki and threw it at the furthest part of the log wall surrounding the field. He let out a calming breath and formed the rabbit seal. He didn't even have time to blink before he vanished...and reappeared about two inches from his previous position.

Sasuke had not been so dangerously close to bursting out laughing since the incident with Tenten. He bit the inside of his cheek so hard that he began to notice the distinct taste of blood. He sighed with relief when the urge to laugh was gone.

Tomoyo made an odd sucking sound through her teeth. "Hmm. I think this is going to take a while," she a slight chuckle.

Naruto frowned at his failure and then set his face in determination. "I _will_ get this."

Tomoyo smiled. "I know you will." She looked at her watch. "I have to get going. Gotta pick up my dress kimono. Don't forget about the rehearsal. Five-o-clock sharp."

Naruto nodded. "You got it."

* * *

Jiraiya had just walked through the gate when he noticed Tomoyo heading his way. "Ah, Tomoyo-san. Do you know where the brat is?" 

Tomoyo laughed. "I just left him at our complex. He's learning hiraishin."

Jiraiya's eyebrows raised. "That should prove interesting."

Tomoyo smirked. "Indeed. Ja na!" she said with a wave.

"Hai. Arigato." Jiraiya then headed toward the Namikaze complex.

* * *

When Naruto saw that he had once again failed to move more than a few inches he gritted his teeth in anger. "Dammit!" He sighed and sat down for a moment to think. _Okay. Concentration isn't the problem. I'm doing the seal right._ He stood up and yelled to the sky. "What am I doing wrong?!" 

"You're not putting in enough chakra," spoke Jiraiya's voice from behind Naruto, who turned around to see the older man with an eyebrow cocked in amusement.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," Naruto complained.

Jiraiya shrugged. "Not necessarily funny, but it is interesting. But seriously—just put more chakra into it."

"But what if I put in too much and hit a tree on the other side of Konoha or something?"

Jiraiya laughed. "You won't. In fact you could put every ounce of your chakra into it and you still won't go to anywhere but your mark."

Naruto gave him a questioning look. "You can use hiraishin?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "No, but I saw your father use it often enough to know how it works." He walked over to Naruto. "I was told you needed to see me?"

An expression of recollection blazed across Naruto features. "Oh!--Right!" He turned to Sasuke. "Hey, Sasuke. I'm goin' back to my house."

Sasuke stood up and the grass returned to its pre-squished condition. "Well, I'm going too then. Nothing to do here."

Naruto nodded and looked at Jiraiya. "Wait till you see what I got to show you," he said with a grin.

* * *

"Okay! Got it!" Naruto called out as he came thundering down the stairs. He cleared the last five with a jump and jogged into the living room. 

Jiraiya's curiosity piqued when he saw the large scroll in Naruto's hands. "Is that a summoning contract?"

"Yeah," Naruto said with a grin, "It's for dragons!"

Jiraiya blinked three times and let out a huge belly laugh. Naruto's smile fell and he looked incredibly perturbed.

When Jiraiya managed to catch his breath he spoke. "Oh—Oh my stomach." Another volley of laughter ensued. "You..." he said with a wagging of his right index finger. "I gotta admit, that was a good one." His laughter stopped suddenly when he noticed the look of irritation on Naruto's face. "Wait...Are you serious?"

"_YEAH_!" Naruto replied in a 'duh' tone of voice. "You think I'd call you all the way out here for a stupid joke?! Come on! Even I'm not _that_ irresponsible!"

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Gomen." He held out his hand. "Alright then. Let me see what you got here."

Naruto handed him the scroll and waited expectantly. Sasuke folded his arms. "I tried to tell him dragons don't exist. Maybe you can talk some sense into this dobe," he said, ignoring his brother's angry glare.

Jiraiya unrolled the scroll and looked it over. In the end he simply sighed and handed it back to Naruto. "I honestly don't know what to tell you. Where did you get this?"

"From the Kazekage. He said it belonged to my family once," Naruto replied defensively.

Jiraiya frowned. "Do you have proof of that?"

"It had a blood seal on it and _my_ blood opened it," Naruto said firmly.

Surprise showed on Jiraiya's face but his opinion of the whole thing didn't change. "I don't know why it would be sealed, but it can't be a real contract. Dragons don't exist," he said with an apologetic expression.

Naruto sighed through his nose. "Let's just say for a second that it is real. Are you sure there's no way for someone to have two summoning contracts?"

"Positive. I would talk to Gamabunta before you do anything rash." Jiraiya's eyes widened. "You haven't signed it have you?!"

Naruto shook his head. "No. I wrote my name but I didn't put down my fingerprints."

Jiraiya sighed in relief. "Okay then. Let's go talk to Gamabunta."

* * *

Jiraiya, Naruto and Sasuke stood in the middle of Tsunade's training field. Jiraiya took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Let's hope he answers. He's had a summoning block on since Gamakichi died." 

Naruto's expression became solemn. He clutched the front of his shirt and stared downward. He knew it wasn't his fault, but he still couldn't help feeling guilty for his friend's death—and the fact that the young frog's chakra resided in his body didn't help either. _Gamakichi..._

Jiraiya made the usual preparations. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared Gamabunta sat in the field with a small smile. "Hello Jiraiya."

The change in his long time friend made Jiraiya's stomach sick. "How are you doing?" he asked gently.

"I think I'm alright—my mate on the other hand..." Gamabunta sighed. "She's...coping. She tells me she's alright, but she still cries when she thinks I'm out of earshot."

Jiraiya nodded. "It's hard to lose a child. I felt the same way when Minato died," he said quietly.

Gamabunta nodded. "What is it that you need?"

"Naruto actually has a question for you," Jiraiya explained.

Gamabunta looked at Naruto in curiosity. "Oh?"

Naruto swallowed hard. Suddenly the idea of telling Gamabunta that he wanted to dissolve their contract seemed cruel. "I..."

"Is something wrong?" Gamabunta asked in concern.

Naruto showed the giant frog the dragon scroll. "A few days ago I got this from the Kazekage. It's a summoning contract that used to belong to my family." He unrolled it and laid it on the ground. "It says it's a dragon contract." He missed the stunned look on Gamabunta's face. "Could it be real?"

Gamabunta just stared at the contract as memories came flooding into his mind like a tsunami. "It's real...and you should burn it."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

((Dumps crocodiles into the RPR moat and sets beta readers as guards b4 she dives inside and locks it tight)) ::Coughs:: I haven't hit you guys with a really mean cliffy in a while. Just remember. If you kill me you won't know what happens next. 

I know this chap is two weeks late, but hopefully the length will make up for it. 4130 words ::Dies:: (It's the second longest chapter in all of COLAD). The Christmas rush is officially on and I am swamped with custom pony orders. Unfortunately, this takes priority over COLAD, so updates may be a bit slow till after Christmas.


	20. The Shame of the Summons

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 20

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Naruto's eyes snapped wide open. "Burn it?! Why?!"

Gamabunta set his jaw. He had a very good reason behind his command. "Do as I say."

Naruto glared at the giant frog. "Not till you explain why!"

Gamabunta matched Naruto's glare. "This is not a matter to be discussed with humans."

"Gamabunta," Jiraiya interrupted, "are we not your subordinates?" He knew he was being very bold and possibly rude but he also knew how important this whole thing was to Naruto and he could not allow the boy he loved like a grandson to be denied something from his family unless there was a damn good reason.

Gamabunta frowned in thought.

"Does that not that make us family?" Jiraiya urged on.

Gamabunta let out a sigh which caused the tree tops to bend a bit. "Alright," he relented. He looked at Sasuke. "But he must leave."

Naruto shook his head. "He's my brother. He stays," he said firmly.

Gamabunta knew the look that had entered Naruto's eyes—it meant he would not budge. "Very well then." He looked at the sky, which was beginning to cloud over. "It was nearly one hundred and fifty years ago. I wasn't much older than Gamakichi." His face saddened a bit when his son's name escaped his mouth. "Back then, dragons were the most highly respected of the summoning creatures—but that changed when a female dragon broke one of our most sacred laws...She mated with a human."

Naruto's shock at this news quickly turned to confusion. "How is that even possible?"

"Dragons are one of only two summon species who can take human form—the other being foxes." Gamabunta saw the look on Naruto's face and held up a webbed hand to halt the oncoming question. "The fox summons have nothing to do with the Kyuubi."

Naruto seemed to accept the answer and nodded. His expression showed that he was somewhat uncomfortable with the topic of the question he was about to ask. "Why is it bad for summons to..._mate_ with humans?"

"Because any resulting children...are monsters," Gamabunta said with foreboding tone.

Naruto suddenly became angry. "Just because the kids would be different doesn't give you the right to call them monsters!" he yelled.

Gamabunta sighed sadly. "You're not understanding me. I don't mean monsters as a derogatory term. I mean they were truly..._monsters_."

Both Naruto and Jiraiya felt a frightening chill from Gamabunta's proclamation.

"They were deformed, terrifying...and violent." Gamabunta wiped some of the water that had collected on his forehead from the misting rain which was now adding to the gloomy atmosphere. "When I was barely sixty-three years old my father told me something terrible had happened and that I was to block myself from being summoned until he said otherwise. I asked everyone I knew, but no one would tell me the details. Finally my curiosity got the better of me and I snuck into the human world."

"It didn't take me long to find the place of the disaster. There were ninjas guarding the perimeter along with authorities from several summon clans. It was difficult, but I managed to sneak past them." Gamabunta looked to the ground. "Even now...I wish I had listened to my father."

"Now, I know you think you have seen some horrible things, but the carnage I saw that day...there's just no comparison. When I walked into the village everyone had been guarding there was not an inch of the ground free of blood and bodies. You _must_ understand when I say that these people hadn't just been _killed_—they had been shredded. Men…women… children—all of them barely recognizable as anything but strips of flesh. And the thing that killed them all...was the five year old child of a dragon and a human."

Naruto and Jiraiya were stunned into silence—their mouths and eyes wide with expressions of abject horror.

"We had no warning. The child had been hidden from us in an effort to keep the other summon clans from killing her. By the time her presence was made known it was too late—and an entire village paid the price." Gamabunta's face hardened into anger. "It was not just the female who had committed the crime. The entire clan knew of the child and kept her secret from us. The dragons are a disgrace and should never be allowed to work with our human comrades," he said bitterly.

The rain had become a light summer shower, which would have been refreshing if the situation had been different. "The father of the child was a Namikaze." Gamabunta ignored Naruto's reaction to this revelation and continued. "The head of the clan put a blood seal on the contract. Suna had only been founded three years before but they already had some good shinobi so the contract was given to the first Kazekage for safe keeping. I still don't know why your ancestor refused to destroy the contract outright." He looked at Naruto. "So..._now_ will you burn it?"

Naruto looked to the ground as rivulets of water made their way down his face. For a long time the only sound that that could be heard was the rain hitting the soft earth. "No," he said in a voice so quiet Gamabunta almost didn't hear him.

"Excuse me?" Gamabunta asked, incredulously.

"I can't..." Naruto looked up. "I can't condemn an entire race because of one mistake—especially one...made out of love."

Gamabunta's resolve crumbled a bit at seeing the pleading expression on Naruto's face. "Even if it was done for love, they knowingly put innocent lives in danger. It was selfish and cruel," he explained.

Naruto clenched both his jaw and his fists. "I know. I understand that, but..." Silence. "I think if I was that kid's dad...I might've done the same thing. Love makes you do things that don't make logical sense. I know you hate them for what they did, but put yourself in their place. If it was your kid...what would you've done?"

Gamabunta felt his chest tighten. Not once in all the years since the disaster had he heard anyone disagree with his opinion on the matter, but what Naruto said made sense. "I...I might have done the same," he said with shame in his voice.

"What happened to the child?" Jiraiya asked.

Gamabunta's face was filled with regret. "She was killed."

Naruto gritted his teeth and his fist clenched. He knew in his heart it was something that had to be done, but the idea of killing a five year old child, no matter what the reason, made that same heart terribly heavy.

"You came here to ask me if you could break our contract...didn't you?" Gamabunta asked sadly.

Naruto looked up at the sudden question and winced. "Yeah..."

Gamabunta squeezed his eyes shut. "There's no way I can change your mind?"

"No..." Naruto answered as he looked down.

"Alright..." Gamabunta sighed. "Jiraiya, take out the frog contract please."

Jiraiya nodded. "Sure," he answered solemnly. He unrolled the contract and laid it down on the ground.

Gamabunta stabbed the tip of one of his fingers with his sword and smeared the blood over Naruto's signature and fingerprints. He felt sad. It was like he was breaking ties with one of his children and the loss of Gamakichi seven months before hand made it even worse. Tears nearly made their way to his eyes when he spoke. "It's done. You are no longer my subordinate."

Naruto nodded. "I have something else to ask you."

"Hm?"

"Can Sasuke be your subordinate?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"What?!" Sasuke asked in surprise.

Naruto looked at him and gave him a small smile. "I thought it'd be great if we could both use summons in battle."

Sasuke smiled. "Thanks, dobe." He shrugged and looked up at Gamabunta. "How about it?"

Gamabunta cocked an eyebrow. "That would be interesting." He smiled. "Alright." The smile turned wry as he lowered his head a bit towards Sasuke. "But you have to earn it the same way your brother did."

Sasuke's body leaned back a bit of its own accord. He didn't like the look the giant frog was giving him. "What do I have to do?" he asked tentatively.

Gamabunta straightened up. "Well, first you have to sign the contract."

Sasuke looked at Naruto and his nervous expression turned into one of resolve. _If Naruto can do his little test I sure as hell can._ He signed the contract and placed his fingerprints. "Okay. Now what?"

"Now Naruto will teach you how to summon, and when you can manage to summon _me_ your real test begins." Gamabunta turned to Naruto. "Be careful when you try to summon the dragons. Who knows how they'll react after not having been summoned for nearly one hundred and fifty years."

Naruto nodded. "Hai."

"Ja!" Gamabunta said right before he disappeared.

Sasuke turned to Jiraiya. "When can we start training?"

Jiraiya cocked an eyebrow. "_We_?"

"Hey! Gamabunta said I'm supposed to train you!" Naruto said indignantly.

Jiraiya smiled evilly and nodded. "He _did_ say that."

Sasuke suddenly looked like a rabbit caught in a bear trap. "But...but he..." he sputtered as he pointed at Naruto.

"...knows more than you do and I don't have the time," Jiraiya finished for him. "Ja." And he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke looked at his brother with extreme apprehension.

Naruto folded his arms. "You don't gotta look like that. I know what I'm doing," he said with an insulted frown. "Oh crap! What time is it?!"

Sasuke blinked at the sudden change in topic and reached inside his equipment pouch. After a second or two of rummaging around the bottom he produced a small pocket watch. "It's three thirty."

"Crap! I gotta go get changed!" Naruto proclaimed. "I'll see you later!" he said as he began to run.

"But..." Sasuke began.

Naruto jogged backward for a moment to answer. "Sorry, Nii-san! We'll hafta train tomorrow!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, sighed and left the field.

* * *

You better hurry, Naruto-kun or you're going to be late!" Nabiki warned as Naruto ran by her.

"I know, I know!" Naruto replied as he bolted up the stairs to his room. He opened his closet and looked at the formal kimono in front of him. He had no idea how to put it on and the idea of asking his mother made him cringe. _I'll just hafta figure it out for myself._ He took the kimono off the hanger and took off his shirt.

* * *

Nabiki stared at Naruto as he came down the stairs and then giggled. "Ano, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked at her quizzically. "What?"

"You're dead," Nabiki laughed.

"Huh?"

"The way you have your kimono wrapped—it's only done that way on dead people for funerals."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Aw crud," he said as he began to fiddle with the obi.

Nabiki giggled again. "Here. Let me." She rewrapped the kimono for a him and stood back to admire her work. "Much better," she said with a grin.

"Thanks." Naruto looked down. "Do I look dorky in this?"

"Nope. In fact if you were a few years older Hinata would have some competition," Nabiki said with a slightly feral grin and a wink.

Naruto blushed. "Thanks. I'll see you later," he said as he began to walk away.

"Ja na," Nabiki called after him.

* * *

The room was fairly simple, yet elegant. There were lotus blossoms in vases next to each side of a traditional Japanese wedding alter along with a set of incense burners in the middle of the kneeling height table. Tomoyo, Kakashi, Anko, and Tsunade waited for Naruto to appear. Tomoyo tapped her fingers on the doorframe that lead to the outside. "Where the heck _is_ he?"

Kakashi smiled in amusement at his soon-to-be wife's impatience. "Don't worry. He wouldn't miss this."

Tomoyo suddenly noticed a speck on the horizon which was slowly increasing in size. Soon, Naruto was jogging up to the temple entrance. "Gomen. I had trouble getting this thing on," he said, pointing to his outfit.

Tomoyo smiled. "That's okay—but this is only a rehearsal. You didn't need to wear that."

Naruto's arms dropped slack to his sides and he bent over a bit. "Gah! You coulda told me that."

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I thought you knew." Tomoyo led him to his starting point. "Alright. Let's get this started."

* * *

Sasuke's heart felt like a lead weight in his chest as he walked through the gates of the Uchiha compound. It was on that day, so many years ago, that his family was slaughtered. It was also the only day of the year he came anywhere near his old home. Every grain of dirt on the road, every shingle on the houses, every whisper of the wind carried him back to the days when everyone was alive—when he was happy.

He walked into his house and headed for the kitchen. As he looked to the stove he could almost see his mother standing there—making dinner for everyone. His own childhood laughter floated to his ears through the mists of time as Itachi's best friend, Shisui, tickled him. Itachi only smirked as he watched them from his place at the table.

Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again the memory was gone and the cold cruelty of the empty house came rushing back to him. He gritted his teeth and headed back outside, pausing in his step when he saw the spot where Itachi had damaged the wall. He felt the dam inside of him burst and ran to the spot. "DAMN YOU!" he yelled as he punched clear through the wall.

As soon as the hole was made, Sasuke felt his blood run cold. Something was very _very_ wrong. He swallowed, turned around...and screamed...

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

((Sets Lygamorte as body guard with slender clawed gauntlets as weapons and slams the door to the RPR)) Ummmm. ((cough)) I will repeat what I said last time, you kill, you no get shiny continuation.

I will warn you though; the next chapter is mainly an excuse to get some horror in there. I haven't done much horror/gore wise for a long time. It also gives me time to work out some plot points of the main storyline that are giving me a headache.

Nothing else to report really. See you guys next time. :)


	21. Echoes

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 21

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Sasuke stood with his mouth agape at the vision of horror that stood before him. There was a dark hollow where her right eye had been and a slash on the front of her kimono where a sword had obviously sliced through. "K-K-Kaa-san?!" he whispered sharply.

Sasuke's mother, despite the condition she was in, simply smiled and held out the carefully wrapped box in her hand. "Sasuke-chan, you forgot your obento," she said sweetly.

Sasuke didn't move. He could barely think in his current situation, never mind give any kind of a response.

"Nii-san!"

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked in the direction of the voices and saw Naruto and Hinata running toward him.

"You okay?" Naruto asked as he skidded to a halt just in front of his brother.

"Where'd you come from?" Sasuke asked in a slight daze.

"We heard you scream," Hinata explained, concern evident in her features.

Sasuke frowned and looked back at where his mother was. "It's..." his words escaped him when he saw there was nothing to greet him but the emptiness of the compound, "nothing..." he was extremely glad she was gone. The idea that he could see ghosts was not something he wanted to add to his psychiatric resume.

Naruto looked extremely skeptical, but he knew that pushing him for an answer would gain nothing but arguments. "Whatever you say. C'mon—I'm done with the wedding rehearsal. We can train."

Sasuke stared at the spot where his mother had been. "Yeah...let's get out of here."

The three teens turned to leave but as they neared the gate it slammed shut of its own accord. "What the hell?!" Naruto exclaimed.

Hinata frowned. "Byakugan!" She glanced all around them but there was nothing. "I don't see any enemies," she said with confusion.

Sasuke tried to pull the gate open but it was no use. "It won't budge."

Naruto looked determined. "So what? Let's just jump over it."

Sasuke shrugged and as the light of the setting sun began to fade he and Naruto attempted to leap out of the compound only to hit some kind of invisible barrier. They flew back and hit the ground hard.

Sasuke glared at the sky. _What's going on here? Is it some kind of genjutsu?_

Naruto saw the shadow of someone walking by the gates and stood up. "Hey—Can you get the Hokage?" There was no response and the sound of the person's footsteps began receding. "Are you listening to me? We're trapped in here!" The footsteps were nearly gone. "OI!!"

"I don't think they can hear us." Sasuke swallowed as his eyes scanned the area.

"C...Could it be...g-ghosts?" Hinata asked in a very small voice.

As darkness settled in around them Sasuke stiffened and Naruto's eyes widened. "D-D-Don't even say things like that!" he hissed nervously.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at his brother and smirked. "Scared of ghosts?"

Naruto looked incredulous. "No way! I just don't want Hinata to be scared!"

Sasuke was completely unconvinced. "Right." He looked around. "It's probably a genjutsu trap—and if it is then there should be a marker somewhere. I say we start looking for it."

Hinata gulped. "Sasuke, I...don't see any markers," she said as she took another look around with her byakugan.

Sasuke frowned. "I refuse to believe in something so ridiculous as ghosts!" he snapped. "Now come on—let's start looking."

As Sasuke stalked off, Hinata looked at Naruto. She was hoping he'd give her some answer that made better sense than genjutsu _or_ ghosts but he merely shrugged.

"Look, we both know he's wrong but it'll keep him happy and it'll give us something to do while we think," Naruto said with a warm smile.

Hinata smiled in appreciation, nodded and took Naruto's outstretched hand.

* * *

The knot in Naruto's stomach tightened its grip the longer they walked. Suddenly he realized something and stopped. "Guys...there's no crickets..."

Sasuke stopped. "What?"

"There aren't any crickets chirping. Listen..." Naruto explained further.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stood quietly. After a moment his eyes flattened into a glare. _He's right...there's nothing,_ he thought as he tried to quell the panic rising in his chest. He noticed something else wrong and the feeling increased. "There's no fireflies either."

Naruto and Hinata looked around, fear growing on their faces.

"What the hell IS THIS?!" Naruto yelled. He was suddenly silent, however, when he noticed Sasuke and Hinata staring over his shoulders with wide, fearful eyes. "Hey...what's the matter with you guys?" He looked behind him to see what they were looking at and his expression quickly mirrored theirs.

Uchiha walked the streets like they would have on any normal day—except that every single on of them sported some kind of fatal wound. Some of them had slashes or holes where they had been run through with a sword, others were missing limbs, and one was even lacking his head.

A little girl Sasuke recognized as one of his younger cousins skipped up to him. "Sasuke, why do you look bigger?" she asked innocently.

Sasuke tried not to stare at the child's missing ear and the gash across her jugular vein, but he just couldn't look away. "V...Vitamins," he answered in a daze.

The girl frowned. "You're trying to trick me," she said with a pout.

Hinata swallowed and walked over to the little girl, who couldn't have been more than five. "N-No. He's right. Vitamins make you grow big and strong," she said with a kind smile. Underneath her smile, however, she was fighting the urge to do a face plant in the dirt.

The little girl broke out into an adorable smile. "Okay! I'm gonna take all my vitamins from now on!" she proudly proclaimed.

Hinata bravely patted the child on the head. "Good girl. Now run along. I'm sure your mommy is wondering where you are."

"Hai!" the child said before running off.

Suddenly all the people vanished and Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke were all alone once again. Without missing a beat, and without looking away from where the child had been, Naruto said, "So, Sasuke...still gonna deny we're dealin' with ghosts here?"

Sasuke slowly turned his head to give his brother a death glare. The glare vanished when he noticed the dragon scroll strapped to Naruto's back. "Why do you have that with you?"

Naruto blinked at the sudden change in mood and looked over his shoulder. "I wanted to train—remember?"

"Oh right." Sasuke sighed. "Let's go to my house. We can stay there while we figure out a way to escape."

The other two nodded and they began to walk. Hinata suddenly screamed as she was yanked to the ground by an unseen force and dragged along the ground by her ankles until she hit the outer wall of one of the houses.

"HINA-CHAN!"

"Hinata!"

Both boys ran as fast as their legs would carry them to their friend. Hinata was holding her head and squinting her eyes from the pain.

"Hina-chan! Are you okay?" Naruto asked as he gently lifted her to a sitting position.

Hinata opened her eyes a little. "H-Hai."

Naruto frowned skeptically.

"Really," Hinata urged. "I bumped my head, and my back stings, but I'm okay."

"I'm gonna check your back," Naruto said with a slight blush.

"O...Okay," Hinata replied as she also turned a bit pink.

Naruto moved behind her and carefully lifted the back of her shirt while Hinata held onto the front to make sure that wasn't raised as well.

Naruto winced a little at the scratches and scrapes that dotted her back. "You'll be okay. I just wish I knew how to use my healing powers on you."

"It's okay," Hinata said with a smile.

"This is getting dangerous. We need a way out of here," Sasuke said.

"Why would anyone in your family want to hurt Hina-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we're not just dealing with my family."

Naruto helped Hinata to her feet and the three made it to Sasuke's house without further incident.

* * *

Naruto sighed as the three sat near the fireplace in Sasuke's living room trying to come up with ideas. His arm began to itch and he scratched at it subconsciously. After a few minutes he felt an odd sensation where he'd been scratching and looked at his arm. A small red bump the size of a dime had begun to swell on the spot. _What the hell?_ The bump continued to grow until it was the size of a quarter...and began moving...

Hinata had taken a package crackers out of her equipment pouch and handed two to Sasuke. "Naruto-kun—would you like some crackers?" She stopped when she saw him staring at his arm. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto watched the bump with growing trepidation when suddenly the skin split open and out crawled hundreds of baby spiders. He instantly began screaming.

Hinata jumped when Naruto screamed and started sweeping at his arm with his hands. "Naruto-kun! What's wrong?"

"Get them off of me! Get them off! GET 'EM OFF!!"

Hinata and Sasuke were desperately trying to see what Naruto was talking about. "Get what off of you?!" Sasuke asked.

"THE SPIDERS! WHAT ELSE WOULD I BE TALKING ABOUT?!"

There was still nothing as far as Sasuke could see so he did the only thing he could think of—he punched the top of Naruto's head.

Naruto grabbed the top of his head. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

"You're hallucinating, dobe!"

"What?!" Naruto looked back at his arm. There were no spiders, no bump, not even the itching sensation. "It...it wasn't...real?" he said in between gasps.

Hinata shook her head. "I don't think we can take anything for granted anymore."

"I'm home!"

Wide-eyed, Sasuke turned to stare at his mother as she came through the doorway to the living room.

Uchiha Mikoto's smile widened when she noticed Naruto and Hinata. "You have friends over! Oh, sweetie this is wonderful!" She turned to Naruto. "I was starting to think he'd be a loner forever," she said with a light chuckle.

Naruto managed a twitchy smile. "Yeah. He's kind of a stick in the—OW!" In irritation, he rubbed the spot when Sasuke had just kicked him.

Sasuke glared at Naruto for a moment then turned back to his mother, who was giggling at their antics. He was torn between wanting to hug her, wanting to run away, and the need to find out about their current situation. The third option won. "K...Kaa-san, can I ask you a question."

Mikoto looked at her son and frowned a little at the expression on his face. "Of course, sweetheart. What's wrong?"

Sasuke took in a shaky breath. "H...Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary lately?"

Mikoto thought for a moment. "Not really. Although you look a little taller," she said, her smile returning.

"Have you seen anyone that isn't supposed to be here?"

Trepidation flickered across Mikoto's face before she blinked it away. "I...I could've sworn I saw Shisui today." She shook her head. "I think I'm just tired. My mind is playing tricks on me. I wouldn't worry about it." She placed a comforting hand on her son's shoulder. She suddenly froze as her eyes flashed wide and she sucked in a deep breath. The instant she had touched Sasuke her memories of the massacre came flooding back to her. She stepped backwards, looking confused.

Sasuke scanned his mother's face. She seemed different somehow—more...awake. "Kaa-san?"

Mikoto looked at her surroundings as if seeing them for the first time. "S..Sasuke-chan? Wh...What's going on? Why is our house so empty? Why..." She swallowed as she stared at her son. "Why do you look so much older?"

Sasuke stood there with his mouth agape. Things were different when she was just a ghost who didn't know what was going on—but now that she did and was really, truly responding to him, she seemed more real.

Mikoto's eyes widened again as though she'd remembered something else and she looked down. Her eyes filled with intangible tears as she placed her hand over the wound in her stomach. She slowly looked back up at Sasuke. "I'm dead...aren't I?"

Sasuke managed to nod his answer.

Mikoto's lips pressed together in sadness. The feeling was nearly overwhelming. "How long?"

Hinata decided to make things a little easier on Sasuke. "Almost seven years, Uchiha-san."

"Oh Sasuke-chan...I'm so sorry," Mikoto cried out as she pulled her son into a hug. "I didn't want to leave you."

Sasuke shivered at the cold arms that surrounded him. He felt panic rising in his chest and pushed her away.

Mikoto was confused. "Sasuke-chan?"

"No! I-I-I can't! I can't do this!" Sasuke yelled.

"I don't understand," Mikoto said softly as tears made their way down her face.

"I can't pretend like you're alive! When whatever's going on is all over, you'll be gone again!" Soft plops sounded on the tatami mat floor as Sasuke's tears fell free.

"Sasuke-chan..." Mikoto said as she stretched out a hand toward him.

"NO!" Sasuke shouted. He bolted out of the room and out of the house.

"Sasuke-chan." Mikoto looked down and let the tears fall.

* * *

Sasuke sat against the outer wall of his house with his knees up to his chest and his face in his hands. He wanted so very much to go back in the house with his mother. He wanted to talk to her, tell her all that had happened to him, let himself feel safe in her comforting arms—but he just couldn't. To have her ripped away from him again after seeing her for only such a short time would turn him into an emotional wreck and he knew it.

* * *

"Do you wanna sit down?" Naruto offered to Mikoto.

Mikoto shook her head then got a curious look on her face as she closer look at Naruto. "You're..." she began, but remembering that his friend might not know of Naruto's 'condition' she cut herself off.

Somehow Naruto knew what she was going to say and he nodded toward Hinata. "It's okay. She knows."

Mikoto looked relieved. "You're still alive..." She smiled. "I'm glad. There were days I'd heard rumors that made me think you wouldn't even live to graduate the academy."

Naruto smiled. "Thank you. That means a lot to me." He looked to the door. "I gotta go see how he's doing."

Mikoto nodded in understanding. "Go ahead. It's comforting to know he has such caring friends."

Naruto smiled, took Hinata's hand and walked out of the building.

* * *

Sasuke rolled his eyes when Naruto sat down next to him. He wished that just once, Naruto would see fit to let him be alone. "Go away, please."

Naruto frowned and shook his head. "Can't do it. We gotta get out of here and that means we don't have time for this."

Sasuke hated it when Naruto made more sense than he did. It was just...odd. "Alright. But I'm not going back in there," he said as he got to his feet.

"But maybe your mom knows who's keeping us here," Naruto offered.

"She doesn't...but I do."

They turned around to see a young Uchiha boy who seemed to be in his early teens. Hinata and Naruto had no particular reaction other than confusion, but Sasuke's face screamed recognition. "Shisui."

"That's right Sasuke-chan," Shisui said with a superior smile.

Sasuke took a step back. Something was not right. "What do you know about this?"

Shisui chuckled. It was not a pleasant sound. "I'm the one keeping you here."

Naruto's eyes flattened into a glare as he remembered Hinata getting hurt. "You son of a bitch!" He charged Shisui but it was to no avail as he went right through him.

Shisui laughed again. "You can't hit someone who's dead—baaaka," he said with a condescending tone.

Naruto swallowed. "You're a ghost too?"

"Sasuke-chan knew immediately. Didn't you, Sasuke-chan?"

"Stop using 'chan' with my name!" Sasuke retorted. "And why would you do this?! Itachi was the traitor, not you."

"Itachi and I planned the clan's destruction...together," Shisui said with a cold smile.

"What?!" Sasuke hissed.

"Itachi and I knew the only way to be accepted into Akatsuki and destroy the clan was if one of us had the mangekyou sharingan. And I would guess you know by now how that is achieved?"

Sasuke swallowed, remembering his attempt to kill Naruto. "Ahn."

"Neither of us were in a hurry to die but the clan was so full of _scum_ by that point that there was no choice. We simply flipped a coin. I won. As I was preparing to kill the only friend I'd ever had he betrayed me...and I was killed instead." Shisui's face became angry. "As I lay dying he told me he believed it was better if he was the one who survived because he thought he was stronger and had a better chance than I did."

"I've walked these streets for seven years with no purpose--until you punched that wall today," he said, pointing at the aforementioned wall. "I don't know why, but that act woke me from the dream world of the past I'd been living in. And now I have a purpose." His anger turned to a feeling of satisfaction. "I will take my revenge...on you."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Dear oh dear. I'm awful with cliffies lately aren't I? I apologize for the delay in getting this out, but as I mentioned before, Christmas rush and all that.

**Doujin news:**Charu-san has put up 2 new pages!! WOOT! I'll be posting links to them on the COLAD site later tonight or tomorrow but you can view them now by going to her Deviant Art gallery at: **charu-san dot deviantart dot com** It's the scene where Sasuke finds Naruto on the table in chap 1 book 1.

This chapter started out as an excuse to play with Sasuke's head but it kinda got away from me which is why it may seem a bit sudden. ((Sweatdrop))

Enjoy all. I should have a new chapter out either by Christmas or not long after. I will soon be heading off for my yearly exile to my mother-in-law's house. Lol.

Later all,  
Song


	22. The Guardian

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 22

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Several emotions flooded through Sasuke's body at the words Shisui had spoken. Anger and sadness that yet another one of the people he'd trusted most when he was younger had betrayed him. And his hatred of Itachi...was now doubled. His elder brother had put people he cared about in extreme danger...again—and it tore at his insides that he had no idea of how to change the current situation. 

Hinata suddenly perked up and looked at Naruto. "Naruto-kun—the dragons!"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at her with blank stares of confusion. "Huh?" was Naruto's answer.

"I read something once that said dragons are a bridge between our world and the spirit world. If you summon one, it might know how to stop this!" Hinata answered urgently.

Shisui laughed at what he believed to be their complete lunacy. "Dragons don't exist, you idiots."

Naruto ignored him and pulled the contract scroll off his back. He stared at it for a moment in uncertainty before unrolling it and using his summoning ring to draw blood from his thumb.

Shisui's smirk began to fade. Although he still believed there was no way dragons existed he also didn't feel it was wise to let them continue with whatever they were doing. "Don't ignore me!"

In a flash, Shisui had a hold of Hinata's throat.

Naruto looked up from having _just_ placed his fingerprints under his signature. "Hina-chan!" He rushed forward to help her but Sasuke held him back.

"You finish that! I'll help her!" he said as he began trying to remove the hands that were cutting off Hinata's breathing. It wasn't doing much good though, seeing as how the hands he was trying to grab were non-corporeal.

Naruto flashed through the summoning seals faster than he ever had in his life. "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"

The cloud of smoke that had emitted from Naruto's jutsu distracted Shisui enough that his grip on Hinata loosened. Sasuke took the opportunity and pulled her to safety. He placed the coughing girl on the ground and watched the clearing smoke.

It was roughly fifteen feet long and ten feet tall. Its long, sleek, black body shimmered in the moonlight. Its horns, claws, the row of ridges on its back and the fan on the end of its tail were a golden yellow. Blue eyes looked out from its face and a blue, teardrop shaped jewel rested in the center of its forehead. The dragon blinked and looked around for a moment before settling its gaze on Naruto. "What just happened?" it asked in a distinctly female voice.

Naruto quickly got over the amazement he felt at seeing a real live dragon. "I summoned you to help us!"

"Summoned? How did you?" the dragon asked.

"I'll explain later. Right now we need your help!" Naruto pointed at Shisui. "He's trying to kill us!"

The dragon blinked in confusion. "Kill you?" She blinked again, this time in realization. "Wait...you're alive?"

"Of course we're alive!" Naruto retorted.

"Then what are you doing in the spirit realm?"

"We're in the spirit realm?!" Hinata squeaked.

"Well, yes. It's an easy fix though. Hold on a moment." She held up her three-clawed hands and the jewel in her forehead began glowing. She took in a deep breath and exhaled a shimmering cloud of mist, which she spread wide with her hands. As the mist circulated the air around them wavered like the ripples that radiated off the roads on a hot afternoon.

As the world around them began to phase back to normal Sasuke noticed his mother standing in the doorway to his house. The look of sadness on her face was almost more than he could stand. "Wait!"

This brought Shisui out of the trance he'd been in and eyes widened when his mind registered that he might be about to lose his captives. "I won't let you!" He lunged forward but his outstretched hands grasped nothing but air as Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and the dragon faded out of existence. He screamed at nothing. "NOOO!"

Sasuke turned to the dragon. "We have to go back! My mother's still trapped with him!" he said desperately.

The dragon smiled serenely at Sasuke. "She's fine. When I brought you home I also repaired the barrier between heaven and hell. That boy is back where he belongs and so is your family."

Sasuke sighed in relief, but he still couldn't help but turn a longing stare toward the spot his mother had been standing.

The dragon looked around for a moment. "I wonder how the barrier was cracked in the first place."

"Shisui said he felt a change of some kind when I punched that wall over there," Sasuke explained, gesturing toward the wall.

The dragon looked thoughtful for a moment. "I assume this compound used to be your home, correct?"

Sasuke nodded.

"And what happened here?"

"My older brother murdered my clan," Sasuke said with practiced emptiness.

The dragon frowned. "I see." There was silence as she thought for a moment. "I think you managed to hit the heart of the spiritual energy of this place. And because you're related to people who died so tragically your blood acted as a catalyst," she said, indicating the small cuts on Sasuke's knuckles.

Sasuke nodded and then grudgingly said, "Thank you...for fixing this."

"Not a problem. We dragons are the guardians of the barrier. It's kind of my job," she said with a bemused smile.

"Are you okay, Hina-chan?" Naruto asked as he helped her to her feet.

"H-hai. My throat is a little sore though." Hinata put her hand to her neck and activated her healing chakra. The bruising slowly began to fade.

Naruto turned to the dragon. "Thank you so much. If you hadn't helped us..." He didn't even want to finish the sentence as he looked down at the girl he loved.

The dragon smiled. "Now that you're all safe, could you tell me how I was pulled out of my realm?"

* * *

The dragon shook her head in disbelief. "I read about summoning in school, but I was always told our contract was gone." 

Naruto blinked rapidly. "You have school?"

"Well, I'm certain it's vastly different than what you're thinking of, but yes, we have school," the dragon said with a light chuckle.

"What's your name?" Hinata asked with a polite smile.

"I am called Kazehana. And your name is?" she asked as she turned to Naruto.

Naruto smiled. "Uzumaki Naruto. Will you accept me as your subordinate?" he asked eagerly.

Kazehana raised her eyebrows. "I...I don't even know if I can. The contract has been out of use for so long." At Naruto's dejected expression she frowned. For some reason she couldn't put her finger on she felt an immense need to not disappoint him. "Well...lemme talk to my father. I'll see what I can do," she said with a reassuring smile.

"Okay. How long do you think it'll take?"

Kazehana scratched the back of her scaly neck in thought. "Ummm. I'm not really sure. Summon me again in a half hour I guess." She held up her hand. "Ja." And with that, she vanished in a puff of smoke.

Naruto turned to his brother. "You okay?"

Sasuke set his jaw. He hated being pitied or comforted. "I'll be fine," he grumbled. "How about you?" he asked Hinata.

Hinata nodded fervently. "I'm fine. Domo arigato," she said with a low bow.

Sasuke nodded in satisfaction. "I'm gonna go train." He began to walk off. "See you guys later."

Naruto shook his head at Sasuke's issue avoiding no jutsu and turned to Hinata. "C'mon, Hina-chan. Let's get you home."

Hinata nodded and leaned on Naruto's shoulder as they headed for her house, feeling immensely relieved to be in the living world again. "Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?"

"You l-look handsome in your kimono," Hinata said with a blush.

Considering what they'd just been through, some corner of Naruto's brain found the comment so out of place that it was amusing. He chuckled lightly. "Thanks."

* * *

Sasuke had no idea how he'd wound up at TenTen's door, but even as he stood on the front stoop of her house he was angry that it had happened. In fact, his thoughts had been turning to her a lot of late and it bothered him. He barely heard her as she walked up behind him. 

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke shook his head to clear away his reverie. "Yo, Tenten. I was just...ah..." he tried to think of what to tell her but words failed him. _Come up with an excuse dammit!_ he inwardly berated himself.

Tenten cocked her head to one side in curiosity. "Did you wanna train?"

"Hai!" Sasuke answered with relief at having been spared from trying to get his treacherous brain to do what he wanted.

Tenten smiled. "Great! Just let me put this inside," she said, indicating the bag of groceries in her arms. She ran in the house and reappeared a moment later with a few kunai. "Night training will be good for your aim," she said enthusiastically before running off towards her backyard.

Sasuke frowned. "What do you mean by that?" He ran after her. "Oi!"

* * *

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" The smoke cleared and Kazehana once again stood before Naruto. 

"Hey, Naruto. He said everything should be fine" she said with a wide smile. "I think it's going to take me a while to get used to it though." She laughed. "Oh, dad said to ask you—Are you related to the Namikaze clan?"

Naruto grinned. "Yup! That's my dad's side of the family."

"He'll be happy to hear that." Kazehana noticed a woman with long, blonde pigtails standing next to her newly appointed subordinate.

Naruto noticed where the dragon was looking. "Oh yeah! This is my mom," he explained.

Tsunade gave a short bow. "It is a great honor to meet you. I must admit—when my son first told me he had a dragon contract I thought it was a fake."

"A fake?" Kazehana repeated with some disbelief.

"This may be odd for you to hear, but not many people believe dragons exist anymore," Tsunade said with a bit of embarrassment.

Kazehana's eyelids fluttered in shock. "But...we're the guardians of the spirit world barrier! How can they not believe in us?"

Tsunade frowned. "I think the truth was distorted to keep people from looking for the contract."

Kazehana hung her head. "Of course. I should've suspected something like that—after what happened."

"So you know about the village?" Naruto asked gently.

Kazehana snorted. "How could I not know? The other summon clans never let us forget it," she said with some bitterness.

Naruto frowned.

"Anyway. Um...what's the name of your village?"

"Konohagakure. My mom is the Hokage," Naruto said proudly.

Kazehana's eyes widened. "Oh! Please forgive my rudeness, Hokage-sama. You've had to crane your neck to talk to me."

Tsunade let out a short laugh. "No no. It's fine. You're tall—it's kind of unavoidable."

"I don't have to be tall. That's the point."

"Huh?" Naruto said.

Without another word a white glow surrounded Kazehana and she slowly began to shrink and change shape. When the glow faded a human woman stood before them. Her skin was a medium tan and her hair was black with a few golden yellow streaks and reached her shoulder blades. Her eyes were the same blue they had been in her dragon form. The only clue that something was 'off' about her was that her forehead gem was still in place. Well, that, and the fact that she was stark naked.

Naruto's hands flew to his face as he attempted to cover up the blood coming out of his nose but the red liquid just oozed its way between his fingers. He turned around hurriedly.

Tsunade couldn't cold back her laughter as poor Kazehana stood there in utter bewilderment. Naruto, meanwhile, was waving his right arm out behind him practically chanting, "Clothes clothes _clothes_!!"

Kazehana looked down at herself. "Oh! I forgot about that!" She looked at Tsunade. "I am so sorry!"

Tsunade took pity on the humanoid dragon and handed her, her jacket. "It's alright. We'll just make sure we have something for you to wear from now on," she giggled. "I forgot dragons have a human form."

"I thought you didn't believe in us before now?"

"That hardly stops dragons from being in storybooks," Tsunade answered plainly.

"Good point." Kazehana looked at Naruto. "You can turn around now."

Cautiously, Naruto looked at Kazehana, who was wearing his mother's jacket like a makeshift dress.

Kazehana shifted her weight nervously and coughed to clear her throat. "Sorry I embarrassed you."

"It's okay," Naruto replied.

"There's something you have a right to know before you take my son as your subordinate," Tsunade said seriously.

"Huh?"

Naruto looked at Tsunade with wide eyes as he realized what she was about to say. "Kaa-san, no!"

Tsunade's expression became stern. "Wouldn't you want to know in her place?"

Naruto sighed in defeat and looked down. "Yeah..."

Tsunade sighed. "Almost a year ago, Naruto was kidnapped by a traitor from our village. They performed experiments on him—trying to give him the niji chakra." Silence. "They succeeded."

Kazehana was shocked and angry. The very thought of what she knew had been done in order to create niji chakra sickened her. "They...they killed members of the summon clans...for power?!" she growled.

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. "Yeah."

Kazehana swallowed as her eyes filled with tears. "Do...do you know the names of the summons they killed?"

"Only one," Naruto replied sadly. "And he was my friend. Gamakichi...from the frog clan."

Kazehana gasped as her hand flew to her mouth. "I knew Gamakichi had died, but...but they never said how."

"I understand if you don't want me as your subordinate now," Naruto said softly.

Kazehana wiped her eyes. "You didn't kill them." She sniffed and smiled reassuringly. "Of course I still want you as my subordinate."

Naruto smiled gratefully. "Thank you," he said with a respectful bow.

Tsunade smiled at her son's response. _He's grown so much._

"Anything else I should know?" Kazehana asked with a slight wince.

Tsunade smiled. "Nothing that he can't tell you himself if he wants to."

Kazehana smiled. "I should be on my way. It's getting close to dinner time."

Tsunade pulled a pocket watch from her waistband. "So it is. It was a pleasure to meet you, Kazehana. I trust you'll take good care of my son when he calls you."

Kazehana nodded. "Of course." She turned to Naruto. "Ja na, Naruto-kun."

"Ja!"

Kazehana left and Naruto and Tsunade began heading to their home. As Naruto's foot crunched a stick on the ground he looked up at his mother. "Neh, Kaa-san? How'd you know she'd know what the niji chakra was?"

"Gama Bunta told me about it when Orochimaru was still a part of our team," Tsunade replied. "In fact I'm sure it's what gave that bastard the idea to try it in the first place."

Naruto frowned, wondering if Gamabunta had also made that connection.

* * *

As Sasuke looked at the target in front of him his eyelids began to fall of their own accord. He looked at his pocket watch and frowned. It was nearly midnight. "Tenten." 

Tenten tilted her head to one side. "Hm?"

"I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm going to Kakashi's wedding tomorrow," Sasuke said with a yawn.

Tenten stood, yawned and stretched. "Mm. Yeah. It is kinda late isn't it?" She reached up and pulled the pins from her hair buns, letting her hair fall in soft brown ripples to her mid-back.

Sasuke's mouth dropped a little. He'd never seen Tenten look so...so...grown up. The buns she always worn made her look childish.

Tenten put her hands up to the places the buns had been and began scratching madly. "Ugh! Itchy itchy itchy!" she complained.

Tenten's mini-rant brought Sasuke out of his trance. He suddenly became aware that he had been staring and a light blush crept its way up to his cheeks.

Tenten stared back, but her stare was one of confusion. _Why is his face all red? Does he have a fever?_ she wondered. "Sasuke-kun? Are you okay?"

Sasuke made an odd choking sound. "I...I've gotta go!" He bolted out of the yard and down the street.

Tenten watched him go. "What the hell was that about?"

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Dear oh dear. Tormenting Sasuke is just too much fun. I know it's an odd place to cut it off but next is the wedding so I had to. Lol. 

Sorry bout the late chapter. Went on vacation for 10 days, then caught pneumonia, then got dual ear infections...so...yeah. Anyway.

Charu-san has posted MORE doujin goodness! YAY! To see them you can go to the COLAD homepage or go to her DA page. Don't forget to remove the spaces: charu-san. deviantart. com Go there! Go and worship the awesomeness that is Charu-san. :)

There's also new COLAD fanart that I'll be posting in the next few days. Watch for it. :)

At any rate. Expect the next chappy MUCH sooner.

Ja na,  
Song


	23. The Wedding

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 23

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Naruto looked in the mirror with a satisfied smile. He had put his formal kimono on without any help and was feeling rather proud of himself. He was trying to decide where to put his weapons holster when there was a knock on his door. "Yeah?"

"It's me, brat. Can I come in?"

"Sure, baa-chan," Naruto replied as the door opened.

"I see you managed to get everything on the right way this time," Tsunade said with a jovial smile.

"Yup!" Naruto turned around and noticed his mother's outfit. She was in a flowing, purple silk kimono that nearly touched the ground. It had an orange koi on each side of the chest and was trimmed in a soft yellow. "I like your kimono."

Tsunade smiled. "Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto's smile became impish. "Yeah, you pull it off pretty well—for an old lady!"

"Why you little!!" Tsunade raged. But before she could catch him he vanished in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Hinata smiled at her reflection. She was wearing a long, medium blue kimono with pale yellow petals dotting the entire garment and her obi was a solid medium blue. It had no sleeves connected to the shoulders, but instead had detached sleeves that ran from just after her elbow to her wrist. These 'sleeves' also had long, trailing rectangles of fabric which were airbrushed with tall, white cranes. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, with white sticks and had a long herringbone braid trailing from it. She was also wearing a light coral colored lipstick—at Sakura's insistence.

She walked into the sitting room and waited patiently for her escort. She blushed lightly as she remembered the conversation she and Naruto had had the day before.

"_Neh, Hina-chan? You wanna go with me to the wedding tomorrow?" Naruto asked hopefully. _

"_I would l-love to, Naruto-kun!" Hinata replied with a blush. _

"_I bet you'd look really pretty in a kimono," Naruto added shyly. _

_Hinata's face turned crimson. "Th-thank you." _

Hinata sighed and resigned herself to waiting as patiently as she could. Three o' clock just couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

The guard at the gate to the Hyuuga complex smiled when she opened up and saw Naruto standing there. "Hinata-sama is waiting for you in the sitting room. Follow me please," she said.

Naruto followed her inside and they walked at a steady pace. The guard looked behind her with a sly smile. "So...anymore like you at home?" she asked with a with a short jump of her eyebrows.

Naruto blushed and looked off to the side a bit. "No. Sorry."

The guard giggled and they soon found themselves at the sitting room door. She turned to Naruto. "Wait here. I'll announce you."

Still feeling uncomfortable about the question that had been asked a moment ago, Naruto only managed to nod.

* * *

Hinata smiled when Naruto entered the room and stood to greet him. "Hello, Naruto-kun."

Naruto was too stunned by Hinata's appearance to answer. His mouth hung open, his eyes were wide and his breathing had slowed to a crawl. Never, in all the years he had been alive, had he thought he could catch the eye of _any girl_, never mind one so stunning. It was now that he noticed his girlfriend was starting to grow up. The baby fat was leaving her face, giving it a much more womanly shape and she was now only four inches shorter than he was. After a moment of Hinata blushing at his continued gaze he managed to find his voice. "You...you look...beautiful..." he breathed.

Hinata smiled and turned a bright shade of crimson. "Th-th-thank you."

Naruto swallowed. Forcing his body to do as he commanded he managed to hold out his hand. "We should go," he said with a smile, his eyes still holding a look of awe.

Hinata nodded and took his hand. As they walked towards the gate to the complex they noticed Hiashi coming from the opposite direction.

Hiashi stopped suddenly and both his eyebrows rose in utter shock. "So...you _can_ look like a refined young gentleman after all," he said with an approving smile.

Naruto gave a bemused smile. "Yeah well. Don't get used to it." He shifted his clothes a bit, looking as though he was trying to make them more comfortable. "I can't wait to get out of this thing."

Hiashi sighed and was about to give one of his famous mini-lectures when Hinata spoke up.

"I think you look handsome," she said shyly with a blush on her cheeks.

Naruto blushed in return. _Maybe I can wear it once in a while._

* * *

Since shinobi wedding ceremonies were designed to be short—just in case an enemy were to attack—the decorations were also less grandiose than that of a civilian wedding. They were pretty much the same as they'd been for the rehearsal, with the exceptions being the addition of a priest, large white pillows having been laid out for the guests to sit on and photos of the most recently deceased ancestors of the bride and groom. The photos were to honor the sacrifices the ancestors had made for the village and to bless the marriage with their wisdom.

Guests had slowly begun to trickle in. Sadly, there wasn't much in the way of family on either side. For Tomoyo, there was only Naruto and for Kakashi, his grandmother. They had invited everyone who had been on the mission to Ganshou plus Tsunade, Kurenai, Gai, and Asuma. There were also few other shinobi from Kakashi's anbu days.

Naruto and Hinata had walked in, hand in hand. Naruto gave Hinata a quick kiss on the cheek before taking his position near Kakashi and Hinata sat in the front row.

Anko, with quite the annoyed look on her face, walked up in her purple dress kimono and stood at her position near Tomoyo. As Tomoyo looked at her she mouthed **"You owe me."**

Tenten entered the room right behind Lee and Sakura. She was in a white kimono with red sleeves and a red obi. On the sides of her head were the usual buns but they were much smaller than normal and were made of coiled braids with small red bead hanging down from them on golden cord. She had left the back of her hair down and wore a peach lipstick.

Sasuke, who was wearing a dark blue hakama with the Uchiha symbol on each side of the chest, tried desperately not to stare as Tenten seated herself across the isle from him. The way his heart fluttered in his chest at that moment frightened him. There was no way he could deny it to himself any longer. He was attracted to her—and his heart sank at this realization because he knew what he had to do. His expression became one of pained regret. _I'm sorry._

Tenten noticed Sasuke and, blushing a bit at how handsome he looked in his outfit, waved cheerfully. She frowned when his expression turned cold and he looked away. _Did I do something wrong?_

Music consisting of a soft Japanese flute and a zither began playing. Tomoyo, walked in wearing a white wedding kimono with shimmering silver cranes all over. Her hair was done in the traditional shinto wedding style with red hair sticks that had many long strings of sparkling gems hanging from them. She had decided against wearing the hood and in its place was a beautiful hair pin in the shape of a golden fan.

As she walked down the aisle Kakashi simply smiled. Oh, on the inside he was nervous as hell, but he made sure to put his best face forward. He was wearing the traditional black and grey wedding hakama and looked rather handsome in it even if he didn't bother to tame his hair for the day.

Tomoyo walked up to Kakashi. They joined hands and stood in front of the ceremony table. The priest then spoke. "We are gathered her today to witness the marriage of Hatake Kakashi to Namikaze Tomoyo. I would now like everyone to bow their heads. There was a moment of silence before he continued. "We ask Kami-sama on this fine day to smile upon Kakashi and Tomoyo. May your light and love reach them in their most troubled times." He turned his head to one side of the room to look at the photos placed there. "Ancestors of the Namikaze clan." He turned to the other side. "Ancestors of the Hatake clan. We ask you bless this couple with your wisdom and guidance as they enter into the journey of marriage." Another short pause and then, "Please sit at the table," he instructed to Kakashi and Tomoyo.

As the couple drank sake to cleanse their spirits for marriage Tenten kept making sideways glances at Sasuke. The longer she sat there, the more her stomach tightened at the thought that he suddenly had decided to hate her for some unknown reason.

Naruto's feet were falling asleep and he was desperately trying to keep himself from fidgeting, but the pain in his toes was becoming difficult to ignore. As he watched the ceremony something inside his heart began to stir. The swiftness at which the idea came to him startled him to say the least—and to have this idea at only a few weeks shy of fifteen years old was not common among young men—but one look at Hinata and his mind was made up. _Someday, Hina-chan. Someday I'm gonna ask you to marry me._

* * *

Tenten waited outside the temple doors patiently, the lump in her throat growing larger with each person passing her who was not Sasuke. She watched as Kakashi, Tomoyo, Naruto, Tsunade, Anko, and several other well-wishers gathered around the happy couple as they climbed into a carriage. She glared at the doors. No one was coming out and she _still_ hadn't seen Sasuke. Finally she walked into the temple to find it empty. Her eyes flattened into a glare. _He must've snuck out with a henge._

She turned on her heel and left for home. He couldn't run from her forever—and when she found him nothing would stop her from getting the truth.

* * *

"So you just want us to do some reconnaissance?" Naruto asked in a disappointed tone.

"Well, there _is_ a chance of running into Akatsuki there so I'm sending Jiraiya with you," Tsunade replied. "Meet him at the gates tomorrow at noon."

All three teenagers nodded and rose to leave. Just as Sasuke was about to go out the door he felt the Godaime's hand on his shoulder.

"If you run into Itachi you'd better remember that your friends are more important," she warned.

Sasuke simply looked away and left the room. Tsunade sighed and shut the door behind him.

* * *

When they got to the main door for the Hokage tower Sasuke held the other two back. "Hang on a second," he said, putting his finger to his lips to silence them. He ignored the confused look on their faces and peeked out the door. Through the crack he saw Tenten wandering around not far away and winced. "Naruto, can you switch places with me?"

Naruto blinked. "Huh?"

"You turn yourself into me and vice versa. I have someone I need to avoid," Sasuke explained with an almost guilty look on his face.

Sakura gave him a look. "You mean Tenten, right?" she said as she folded her arms.

Sasuke's eyes widened but quickly settled into a look of discomfort. "Yeah."

"What the heck is going on? She came to me after the wedding yesterday and asked me if I knew why you were ignoring her," Sakura said with a serious look.

"It's private," Sasuke replied stiffly.

Sakura frowned. She wanted desperately to pressure him into talking but it rarely worked and she knew it. "Well you should at least tell her. You owe her that if you ever considered her a friend," she said sternly.

"I can't! If I talk to her I'll..." Sasuke stopped short, realizing he had been about to let slip the nature of his troubles. "Can you just tell her that it's nothing she did. I just...it's something I need to work out, then I can be around her again. Please, Sakura."

Sakura wanted so very badly to tell him he had to talk to Tenten himself but something about the look in his eyes was desperate and so she reluctantly relented. "Alright. But I want you to know that I think what you're doing is mean." And with that, she walked out of the building.

After a moment Sasuke took a peek outside to see that both girls were gone and breathed a sigh of relief. Naruto gave him a look.

"You're a chicken shit. You know that, right?"

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Piss off."

* * *

Naruto smiled when he saw that he was only about three feet from his target. He was almost to a point where he was confident enough that the hiraishin would be useful in battle. He stepped back to a line he'd drawn in the dirt and made the rabbit seal again...and made a full body splat on the log his shiki was stuck to. He fell onto the dirt and moaned pitifully. "Damn, that hurt."

"Oi, dobe."

Naruto looked up to see his brother standing over him with a smirk. "What?" he asked grumpily.

"Tsunade-sama's looking for you. Said something about you promising to clean your room before you left for the mission."

"OH CRAP!" Naruto shouted in realization. He sat up instantly and paid for it with a throbbing headache and a slight case of dizziness. He put his hand to his head. "Aw hell, that hurts," he grumbled.

"Feh. Don't slam into logs then," Sasuke said before walking away.

Naruto shakily got to his feet. "Come back here, you bastard!"

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura stood at the gates waiting for Jiraiya, who was now twenty minutes late.

"What the hell?! He's getting as bad as Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto complained.

"Now that's just plain insulting," Jiraiya commented as he walked up. "I apologize for being late. I had to pick up our other team," he said, gesturing to the three people beside him.

As Sasuke stared at one person in particular from the other team he decided he must be fate's favorite whipping boy. Staring right back at him...was Tenten.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Sorry this is so late guys. I have a HUGE amount of stuff to do before Anime Boston. I'm entering the AMV competition, I'm on the AMV 101 panel (Stop by if you'd like to chat), need to make my daughter's costume and I need to make my costume (If I lose enough weight that is).

((Ducks inside RPR)) Sorry bout the cliffy, but leaving it there was just too perfect. ((Arms security system))

**Radioplay news:** The first part of chapter 3 is out! WOOT! You can find it on the COLAD homepage (Link in profile). Enjoy! And don't forget to review. Gotta keep our voice actors happy. :)

Later all,  
Song


	24. Discoveries

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 24

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Tenten stared at Sasuke as though daring him to say something that would give away his reasons for avoiding her while Jiraiya looked back and forth between the two, trying to figure out what the tense atmosphere was all about.

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Alright everyone. Although this is only meant to be a reconnaissance mission, our target is an abandoned Akatsuki base so there is chance of running into them. I want everyone on high alert at all times. Understood?" Noises of agreement sounded throughout the group and he nodded his approval. "Let's go then."

* * *

They had been traveling through the treetops for nearly an hour when Jiraiya moved closer to Tenten. He knew if he wanted information she would be the more forthcoming person. "Will the problem between you and Sasuke hinder this mission in any way?"

Tenten blinked in surprise." How did you...?"

"It wasn't a difficult thing to see."

Tenten sighed. "I don't think so," she replied with uncertainty. "He's been avoiding me since the wedding yesterday. Sakura said, he told her it wasn't something I did but..."

"It's not a good enough answer—is it?" Jiraiya asked with a comforting smile.

Tenten shook her head.

"Don't worry. Boys can be kind of fickle at his age. If you two were good friends I'm sure he'll come around eventually."

Tenten smiled appreciatively. "Arigato."

"It's a shame your other team mate couldn't join us. What's his name again?" Jiraiya asked in the hopes of getting her mind off of the situation with Sasuke.

"Neji. And he's on another mission. They needed the byakugan and he was the only Hyuuga available," Tenten replied with a shrug.

Jiraiya frown slightly. "Figures. We really could have used that ability on this mission."

Tenten nodded in agreement and they continued on their way.

* * *

Sasuke moaned sleepily as he wandered off to find a place to relieve himself. He heard some strange sounds coming from his right and went to investigate. When he saw Naruto practicing he frowned. "If you're too tired to fight tomorrow don't go expecting me to save your pathetic ass."

Naruto looked up from where he had been taking a break on the ground. "Gimme a break. We probably won't even see any enemies." He got to his feet and grinned. "Check this out." He stood, taking a moment to finish catching his breath, and made the rabbit seal. He vanished and reappeared mere inches away from his target. His triumphant smile only lasted a moment, however, for he promptly passed out and crumpled to the ground from exhaustion.

Sasuke smiled wryly and shook his head. "Dobe." And with that he hauled his little brother up by one arm onto his shoulder and dragged him back to camp. He was rather impressed at Naruto managing a passable hiraishin so soon (Not that he'd tell him). _I just hope he doesn't try to use it in battle yet._

* * *

Through half lidded eyes Tenten watched Sasuke as he lowered Naruto onto his sleeping bag. Trying to ignore the tumultuous feelings swirling around in her stomach she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Naruto woke up to a world that was much _much_ too bright. Shielding his eyes he slowly sat up, wincing from the sore muscles he'd made for himself the night before. It wasn't much of a problem though. He simply focused healing chakra to the places that hurt and the only thing left was some minor stiffness.

Jiraiya poked his head into the tent. "Oi, Naruto. We're leaving in half an hour, so hurry up and get dressed."

Naruto frowned. "Yeah yeah." He got dressed and walked outside with a yawn.

Sasuke folded his arms. "About time, dobe."

"Piss off, teme," Naruto grumbled.

Sasuke saw Tenten headed his way and spoke up quickly. "We should get moving right away. I'll be the scout." He ignored the dejected look on Tenten's face and quickly ran ahead.

Jiraiya frowned but nodded in agreement and they followed after Sasuke. Once they caught up to him Jiraiya matched his speed and ran next to him. "Don't bypass the chain of command because you want to avoid talking to Tenten. Got it?" he said in a voice only audible to Sasuke.

Sasuke's face reddened a bit. "Ahn," he muttered.

* * *

Two hours later the team arrived at the abandoned Akatsuki base. "Alright. We're going in groups of two. Naruto and myself will be team one. Sakura and Lee—team two. Team three is Sasuke and Tenten."

"Nani?!" Sasuke protested.

Jiraiya ignored him and continued. "Alright. Let's move out."

Sasuke moved next to him. "Jiraiya-sama," he said quietly. "Please change me..." he began.

Jiraiya held up a hand. "Before you even ask. I will not change teams. If you can't leave your personal problems out of the mission then you have no place being a ninja."

Sasuke frowned but nodded. "Hai, Jiraiya-sama."

* * *

As Tenten followed along silently behind Sasuke she tried thinking of an excuse to get him to talk. She knew if it was mission related he'd have to answer. It wasn't really the same as having a conversation with him but she'd choose almost anything over the uncomfortable silence that drenched the air around them. "Do you think we'll run into any trouble?"

Sasuke bristled a bit at her question. He had been hoping she would continue to stay silent so he wouldn't have to talk to her. He could have kissed the headset he was wearing as it crackled to life.

"_**Sasuke-kun. What's your status?"**_

"All quiet here, Sakura," Sasuke reported.

"_**Okay. Out," Sakura said before signing off.**_

Tenten sighed as they continued walking. She wanted to ask another question but she felt as though the moment was somehow lost now.

* * *

Jiraiya had been pleasantly surprised by Naruto's concentration on the mission. Not once had he had to put up with anything annoying. "You take that room," he said as he pointed at a door to their left. He went inside the opposite door.

"Sure," Naruto confirmed cheerfully—but once inside he frowned. The room he was in contained nothing of any real interest. He sighed and wondered for the hundredth time why they were even bothering with the place.

* * *

Tenten's eyes scanned the room she was in. Nothing looked interesting until she saw a set of six tarnished kunai hanging at face level on the far wall. She walked over to them and gingerly pulled one from the case. "You poor baby," she said as she frowned at the shape it was in. An idea crossed her mind and she smiled. "I'll take all of you home and polish you up," she said happily as she began taking down the others. "You'll be as good as..." she tried to pull on the last one but it seemed to be stuck. She put the others on the floor and use both hands to pull with all her might. Once she managed to pull the top away from the case she heard a click and her eyes widened in shock as part of the wall began to slide away.

* * *

Kisame cocked an eyebrow as he noticed the sealed scar on the back of his hand had reopened. "Itachi-san, we have a problem," he said, holding up his hand to show Itachi the blood.

"Indeed." Itachi thought for a moment. "Inform the Leader. I'm more than enough to deal with whoever the fool is."

Kisame gave Itachi a lopsided frown. "You could let _me_ take the time-killer assignments once in a while, you know. I'm bored as hell."

Itachi did not answer but simply stared at him with cold eyes.

Kisame sighed in defeat and left for their active base. Itachi looked in the direction of the abandoned one. _This should be interesting._

* * *

"Sasuke-kun! Come here!"

Sasuke lifted his head from the box of papers he had been rifling through and silently prayed that whatever she wanted was mission related.

He entered the room where Tenten was and his eyes flattened into a curious glare. "What the hell?"

"I think I opened it when I pulled on this kunai," Tenten explained, indicating the object in question by pointing to it.

"Jiraiya-sama," Sasuke said into his headset.

"_**Jiraiya here."**_

"Tenten found some kind of secret passageway. Should we check it out?"

"_**What's your location?"**_

"East wing—somewhere in the middle."

"_**Go ahead, but be careful. Keep me informed and leave a marker on the door leading to the hallway. Naruto and I will be there shortly."**_

"Roger."

"There could be weight sensitive traps on the stairs. We should be careful," Tenten warned.

Sasuke nodded. Pleased with himself for being able to put aside his personal problems for the mission.

Tenten tied a rope around her waist and handed the loose end to Sasuke. "Here—I'm gonna go down first to make sure it's safe."

Sasuke suddenly felt very unsure about this plan. "But..."

Tenten gave him an odd look. "What?"

"I..."

When Sasuke didn't continue Tenten shook her head and sighed. "Just make sure you don't let go, okay?"

Sasuke nodded dumbly and held the rope tightly. _Be careful, Tenten._

* * *

Sakura and Lee ran quickly along the shabby looking hallways. "They would be on the side of the complex _completely_ opposite us," Sakura complained.

Lee laughed. "At least they found something, so that makes this mission successful." He gave her a thumbs up and his usual grin.

Sakura smacked her palm to her forehead. _I love him—I love him—I love him..._ she chanted in her mind in order to quell the urge to hit him.

* * *

"Okay, I'm down!" Tenten shouted up the staircase.

Sasuke let go of the rope and it snaked its way down the stairs as Tenten rolled it up.

Tenten flipped the switch on the wall next to her and light filled the room she had descended to. "AHHH!"

Sasuke came thundering down the stairs—taking them three at a time. "Tenten, what is...?!" He didn't finish his sentence. He couldn't. What was before his eyes had made him lose all ability to speak.

* * *

Jiraiya and Naruto arrived at the stairwell entrance just in time to hear Tenten's scream, with Sakura and Lee only seconds behind them. Jiraiya was down the stairs first, caught a glimpse of what was in the room and suddenly stopped Naruto's advance at the bottom of the stairwell.

"Hey!" Naruto protested.

Jiraiya's face was grave. "You don't want to see what's in that room—trust me," he said as he continued to hold the boy's shoulder. He leaned sideways a bit to allow Lee and Sakura through.

Naruto glared. "So _they_ can handle it but I can't?!" he said while pointing an accusing finger at the retreating backs of his comrades.

Sakura came back around the corner, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Naruto-kun...please listen to him. You don't want to see this."

Naruto's glare intensified and with a sudden burst of strength and speed he shoved his way past his friends. As soon as his vision rested on what they had been talking about his eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. Why?—Why in the name of all that's holy...hadn't he listened to them?

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

(Dives into the RPR and locks it up tight, posting Fatal Wolf as a guard)

Hi everybody. ((cough)) I'm sorry it's been so long. Many things have been sucking up my time. Not the least of which was Anime Boston. The next update will come much faster. And as always, please remember—I WILL NEVER ABANDON THIS FIC!

I know I'm evil leaving you there, but it was too perfect to resist. I'm already about 500 words into the next chapter so you won't be left hanging for long.

And before any of you ask—NO I will not be bringing Minato back to life.

See you guys soon,

Song


	25. The Lab

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 25

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Naruto's breathing had slowed to minimal as he stared at what was in front of him. The blonde hair, the shape of the face, the tone of the skin—it was like staring back at his own reflection only...older.

Jiraiya walked over to his student and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto." No response. "Naruto...let's get you out of here." He gave Sakura a pleading glance for help.

Sakura bit her lower lip. "Come on, Naruto-kun. Let _us_ take care of this."

Naruto's face suddenly became angry. "What is this?" he said in a dangerous tone. He pointed up at the body floating in the dimly lit tube before him. "Some kind of SICK JOKE?!"

"Naruto, calm down," Sasuke interjected.

"Calm down?" Naruto asked his brother incredulously. "Tell me Sasuke—exactly how calm would you be if it was _YOUR_ DAD'S DEAD BODY IN THAT TUBE?!" His anger was overwhelming. Many times he had dreamed of seeing his father but this mocked his dream and made it into a nightmare.

Sasuke looked down in silence. There was just no way he could answer that without saying he would've reacted the same way.

"It's not your dad, Naruto," Tenten suddenly chimed in.

"What?!" Naruto snapped.

Tenten was thumbing through some kind of notebook. "According to this, it's a clone," she explained gently.

Naruto visibly relaxed a bit but he still looked deeply disturbed.

Jiraiya frowned. "Why the hell would they want to clone Minato?" he mused out loud.

"That's an answer you won't find in those notes," said a cold voice.

Everyone turned around quickly and Sasuke's face instantly turned into a hateful glare. "Itachi..."

Jiraiya's eyes were instantly darting about, trying to get a better idea of how much room they had to fight. The 'lab' easily rivaled the largest gymnasium Konoha had to offer but the amount of items in the room would greatly decrease the attacks they had available to them. There were four rows of tubs like the one that held the Minato clone, but the occupants of those tubes were in various degrees of 'completeness'. Some were missing body parts or were grossly deformed—while the rest looked like a photo album of Naruto's growth. He could feel his stomach churning at the sight, but chose to turn his anger on Itachi. "What the hell is this you arrogant bastard?!"

"You won't live long enough to find out," Itachi said flatly. Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Rabbit, Dragon, Tiger. _Katon: Shiro ootori kaen no Jutsu! (A/N-Fire type: White phoenix flame technique)_ A white flame shot from Itachi's mouth, quickly taking the form of a giant phoenix.

Through various flips and jumps the team managed to avoid the great bird as it streaked forward, but the flames engulfed every burnable object in the room, making it a death trap. "Everyone, get out!" Jiraiya commanded. He knew the fire would eventually burn itself out, but due to the fire being white hot they wouldn't last long enough to see it happen.

Itachi had already left the room before Jiraiya had called out. By the time the Konoha group got to the door the black flames of amataresu were already licking the edge of the doorframe. Jiraiya jumped back down to the floor. "Everyone get close to me!" The team immediately complied. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

In an explosion of smoke and rubble they were suddenly seeing the sky as they stood, shielded, underneath the stomach of Gamabunta. The great frog looked down at the people crowded under his massive girth. "Jiraiya. I was in the middle of dinner you know," his voice boomed in complaint.

Jiraiya smirked. "Later, old frog. Would you mind working with Sasuke? I'm needed down here."

Gamabunta cocked an eye ridge. "Just this once. But I won't do it again until he has earned it." He lowered his face down a bit to Sasuke. "Get on quickly before I change my mind, Brat."

A brief look of uncertainty crossed Sasuke's face before he leaped up onto Gamabunta's back. It was just then that Itachi reappeared. As everyone got into fighting stances Gamabunta rolled one large eye upwards. "You're an Uchiha, right, Brat?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah."

Gamabunta smiled. "Now I know why Jiraiya pushed so hard for me to accept you. My skills always work best with fire users."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows but kept silent.

"That unsure of your skills eh, old man?" Itachi taunted as he nodded his head towards his brother being on Gamabunta's back in place of Jiraiya.

Jiraiya smirked. "Nope. Just training a new summoner."

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Jiraiya turned his head to see Kazehana standing next to Naruto and looked nervously towards Gamabunta. There was a look of distaste in the great frog's eyes but he made no move to protest the dragon's presence.

"Sakura, we'll need our healer in one piece. Get out of range." Jiraiya commanded.

Sakura frowned but she knew he was right. She did as commanded and also kept her eyes peeled for any serious injuries to her team that would need her attention.

"Nobody look at his eyes!" Naruto yelled in reference to Itachi.

Jiraiya looked at him with surprise and approval. _So—he's starting to show leadership._

Kazehana frowned as she saw Itachi's eyes. "Neh, Naruto-kun—what are the powers of his doujutsu?"

Naruto's eyes became grave. "Tsukiyomi. Pretty much the highest level of genjutsu possible. He can put the illusions right into your mind and you feel everything he does to you," he said, attempting an explanation.

Kazehana smirked. "Then you're lucky to have a dragon as a summon." She pushed off from the ground and flew around the combatants in a circle. A transparent green barrier of energy enveloped the group and the surrounding area for quite a distance. She landed next to Naruto.

"What is that?" Tenten asked.

"Kon kabe (a/n- Spirit wall). The level of genjutsu Naruto described could only be possible if the spirit realm were breached. This wall prevents spirit attacks."

Although the Konoha team now looked volumes more relaxed, Itachi seemed to have no reaction to this news. The mangekyou spun and...nothing happened. He suddenly looked thoroughly vexed but quickly regained his composure. "I don't need Tsukiyomi to kill the likes of you," he said with confidence.

Itachi created four Kage bunshins—one for each opponent. "You four take care of the brats." The Itachi clones nodded and began fighting. Itachi, himself turned to Jiraiya. "Now that there will be fewer interruptions let's begin, shall we?"

Jiraiya smirked. "You sure are cocky for a kid," he said as he slid into a battle stance.

Itachi cocked an eyebrow. "No more than Naruto." Snake, tiger, monkey, boar, horse, tiger. _Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu_

Jiraiya easily jumped out of the way of the giant fireball that blazed towards him. Boar. He dropped straight down into the ground—vanishing completely.

Itachi frowned as he scanned the area. He couldn't find Jiraiya, but knew he would most likely come up underneath him. Horse, dragon, ox. "Doton: kaiju no jutsu! (a/n- Earth type: rock formation technique)" Itachi slammed his hand onto the ground beneath his feet and the dirt turned into a ten inch thick rock slab. He felt a short jolt underneath the rock a moment late, confirming his suspicions.

Jiraiya emerged from the ground about fifteen feet away—sporting a bleeding hand and defiant smile. "Nice one," he said through gritted teeth.

Naruto and his two clones jumped backwards. The clones were cleanly hit with kunai and vanished. The real Naruto had the last kunai stuck into his right shoulder. He ripped it out, wincing as he did so. _He might not have Tsukiyomi, but he's still __**damn**__ fast_.

The Itachi clone began flashing through seals. Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Rabbit, Dragon, Tiger. _Katon: Shiro ootori kaen no Jutsu! (A/N-Fire type: White phoenix flame technique)_ The phoenix screamed across the battle field toward Naruto.

Naruto wasn't sure he was ready, but he really didn't have a choice since there was nowhere to go. He pulled out one of his special kunai and threw it out of harm's way then formed the rabbit seal. He vanished and appeared next to the spot on the ground where the kunai had landed. He stumbled, fell, and rolled to a stop—getting up just in time to dodge a kick to the head.

Lee was running at top speed, dodging small fire balls. The clone looked at him with mild interest. "If I didn't have these eyes of mine you might be an actual threat," he said as he calmly watched the green blur that dominated his field of vision. "Which is impressive considering that you don't seem to be able to use any kind of jutsu." He blocked Lee's latest kick. "But you're simply in the way." He grabbed Lee's fist as he tried to punch him in the throat and flung him into a tree. Lee tried to sit up the clone walked over to him and punched him in the temple. An unconscious Lee slumped to the ground and the clone vanished.

A few seconds later Sakura had jumped down from her vantage point and picked up her fallen boyfriend. "Lee-kun!" She took him with into the tree tops and checked his vitals. When she saw he only had a concussion she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

Tenten dodged the kunai jab that had been aimed at her midriff and flipped backwards through the air, pulling out a scroll as she did so. She landed in the lower branches of a tree. From the scroll she summoned eight balls. Horse, rabbit. "Ame senbon no jutsu! (a/n- senbon rain technique)" She threw the balls outward into the sky above the clone. Once they were in the desired position she yanked backwards on the chakra string connected to them. The balls cracked open and thousands of senbon (a/n-basically long needles) shot downward over a radius of twenty feet.

The surprised clone had no time to react and was destroyed when the needles hit it. Tenten let out the breath she'd been holding. _Thank god it was only his clone. I wouldn't have done more than stall the real one._

Unfortunately the same clone that had taken Lee out earlier had come up behind her. Tenten had let her guard down and didn't notice the clone until she was sailing through the air from the powerful kick that had hit her back.

Sasuke, who was fighting a clone which had somehow managed to get onto Gamabunta's back, noticed Tenten's plight. "TENTEN!" He screamed as he dodged the clone's fist.

Gamabunta acted fast and in less than a second Tenten was nestled safely in the great frog's tongue. He gently set her down and went back to the task at hand—namely trying to remove the annoying insect that was on his back. Finally he got fed up with the whole thing and grabbed both Sasuke _and_ the clone with his tongue. He put them on the ground, backed away a bit and sighed. _I'm not much good in a fight when there are so many allies in my strike zone._ He turned to Sasuke. "Kid! Follow me!" With that, he made a few giant hops away from the main battle.

Sasuke broke into a run with a frown on his face. The distance Gamabunta covered in one hop was enormous. _Follow me, he says. Like I can do that so easily._

* * *

Sakura watched the battle with growing unease. So far she had two unconscious friends up in the tree with her and was worried she would soon have more. She looked over at Naruto. He and Kazehana were on opposite sides of their clone. She grew curious though, when she saw Naruto pull a scroll from his pouch. "Huh?"

Naruto opened the long scroll to reveal fifteen small seals. He moved his hand over them. As each seal was released a small ball of sugikon dropped into his other hand. "Kazehana!" He threw the balls at the clone.

Kazehana immediately knew what he wanted her to do. She hit the balls with a stream of fire. The explosion knocked both her and Naruto away from the epicenter.

As soon as he stopped skidding along the ground Naruto looked up to see that the clone was gone. He also saw Jiraiya's fight was still going on and decided to help. He looked at Kazehana. "Let's go!"

* * *

Gamabunta was getting annoyed. It was difficult to hit such a small foe. Frogs weren't exactly known for their speed and Itachi was very fast. He had attempted to help Sasuke by attacking the clone with his tongue but stopped when a blast of fire nearly removed the aforementioned tongue.

Sasuke and the clone's fire blasts continually cancelled each other out. He wanted to use chidori, but he knew it wouldn't do much unless it covered a wide area. Suddenly, he had an idea that both revolted and excited him at the same time. "Gamabunta! Spit on him!"

For a moment Gamabunta looked at Sasuke like he'd grown a second head, but complied with the request.

Once the clone and the twenty foot area around it were soaked in a puddle of spit Sasuke charged up Chidori and hit the edge of the liquid. The electricity shot through the spit and the clone was destroyed. Sasuke looked at the result with a superior smirk.

Gamabunta raised an eyebrow. "Working with you is going to be very interesting."

* * *

Naruto smiled when his brother joined the fight with the real Itachi. "Took ya long enough."

"Heh," Sasuke replied with a smile, but his expression very quickly became severe. "Naruto, Jiraiya-sama...I want you to stay out of this fight."

Jiraiya's eyes widened. Naruto's simply became solemn. He knew Sasuke would ask for this.

"Don't be stupid! I'm not going to let a kid like you go up against Itachi by himself," Jiraiya said in a commanding voice.

Sasuke glared angrily. "I've trained for this day for years! You have no right to interfere!" he yelled.

"As interesting as this little drama is, I don't have all day," and with those words Itachi shot forward.

Naruto, Jiraiya, Sasuke and Kazehana sank into battle stances and readied themselves. They knew at least one person was definitely not getting out of this fight alive...

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

I'm very sorry this took so long, guys. I honestly didn't intend it to. I rewrote many things in this chapter and I still hate it. I just suck at writing battles.

And since some people seem to not understand this, I will say it again—I will NEVER NEVER NEVER abandon this story! Please PLEASE stop reviewing with the question "Has this fic been abandoned?". I am seriously tired of it.

If anyone is an Avatar fan, I released a one shot. You can find it in my profile. :D

I don't think this chapter is much of a cliffy so I hope you guys are happier. :)

Susanno will not be making an appearance because he is a spirit type attack and Kazehana's spell nullifies it.

I will try to get the chapter out as soon as I can, but please, guys, cut me a little slack. I'm a mom and my daughter comes first. Not to mention I have 12 custom My Little Pony commissions at the moment so I'm kinda swamped. Be happy I'm as dedicated to this fic as I am. Honestly, how many fanfic writers are willing to stick to working on a series of fics for over three years? Not many, I can tell you that.

Anywho. I hope you liked this chappy even if I don't. Lol.

See you soon,  
Song


	26. The Inner Light

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 26

* * *

Jiraiya dodged the punch aimed at his head. Naruto came into the fray with a roundhouse kick which Itachi easily blocked by catching his foot and sending him sailing through the air. Naruto managed to turn his body right side up and landed about a dozen feet away; leaving skid marks along the ground as he dug his feet in to stop himself.

As Sasuke shot bullet after bullet of fire at his elder brother his frustration grew. This was supposed to be _his_ fight. He could put up with Naruto—he was family—but Jiraiya had no business interfering. He desperately wished he could find a way to ditch the old hermit.

Itachi's hands sped through seals. Ox, Tiger, Ox, Tiger "Suiton: Suigadan (a/n-Water Release: Water Fang Bullet)!" All at once, a large amount of the grass in the immediate vicinity of the fight died as the water was sucked out of it and turned into giant watery spikes which shot toward Naruto.

Naruto jumped to the side but wasn't quite fast enough and one of the water spikes sliced open his outer right thigh. "AHHHHHGH!" he screamed as he fell to the ground. After a moment he tried to stand up but as soon as he put the slightest pressure on the injured leg pain shot through it like an unchecked wildfire. He quickly began repairing the damage with the niji chakra.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya yelled. He whipped his gaze back to the front and glared at Itachi. "Fine. You like spikes? I'll show you spikes." His hands flashed through a series of seals. "Ranji Shigumi no Jutsu (a/n-Wild Lion's Mane Technique)" Jiraiya's hair lengthened into long, hard spikes and then attacked Itachi.

Itachi used an impressive array of flips, jumps and twists; managing to avoid all the spikes as they drove into the ground after missing him. He stopped once all the spikes stopped moving but had to suddenly begin his 'dance' anew as the spikes started shooting up from under the ground. Seven spikes burst upwards at once, came screaming down to the ground and pinned Itachi to the newly disturbed earth.

Jiraiya smiled but the expression was quickly wiped from his face when 'Itachi' vanished, revealing only his cloak in his place. The eyes of Jiraiya and the rest of his team darted around the area in attempt to ascertain Itachi's whereabouts. _Dammit. Where the hell did he go?_ he thought.

The question was quickly answered when the ground shook and walls of earth grew upwards and over their heads to form a dome-like prison—it didn't last long though. "RASENGAN!" The dome exploded outwards from the force of Naruto and Jiraiya's attack. Naruto's leg was still bleeding but the size of the wound was reduced by nearly half.

Sakura fought an inner battle with herself as she watched Naruto. _I want to heal him, but I don't think he'd let me take him out of the fight,_ she thought with a frown. Suddenly, an idea came to her that was so simple she felt incredibly stupid for not having thought of it sooner. "Tamashii Guujin No Jutsu (a/n-Spirit Puppet Technique)!" Inner Sakura appeared beside her. She turned to it. "You know what to do." Inner Sakura nodded sharply and ran towards the fight.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he moved, even though it wasn't much movement. He activated his Tamagan and began gathering sugikon. His healing wasn't coming along as fast as he had hoped and sugikon spheres were the only long range attack he had. He was about to start throwing them when he noticed Inner Sakura standing next to him.

"I'm here to help," Inner Sakura explained. "Now, don't freak out," she warned.

Naruto looked perplexed. "Freak out? Why would...?" He didn't have time to finish because Inner Sakura had put herself into a liquid-like state and slithered into his open wound. His expression twisted into one of abject disgust. "EWWW!"

"Oh shut up and let me work!" Inner Sakura complained. "You concentrate on the fight."

With great effort Naruto pushed his disgust aside and began throwing the spheres he had collected.

"Naruto, we need to get this battle out into the open," Sasuke instructed. "Gamabunta has a plan but we can't do it here without putting everyone in danger."

Naruto looked at Kazehana and she nodded. "My barrier will go where I go. We can do it."

"Ero-sennin! This way!" Naruto yelled as he gestured with a wave of his hand.

Thanks to the distraction Jiraiya almost found himself impaled by a huge spike of rock that Itachi had thrust toward him from the forest floor. He glared at Naruto for an instant and then followed him.

It wasn't long before the group found themselves on a large, open field of grass. All at once Gamabunta scooped everyone up in his giant tongue and put them on his back. Jiraiya smiled. He knew what was going to happen, for he and the great toad had done it many times in the past.

Inner Sakura slid out of Naruto's leg through the tiny opening that remained. "I fixed the worst of it. You should be all right now."

"Thanks," Naruto said with a half smile/half grimace. He was still creeped out by the whole thing. Suddenly he noticed Sasuke and Jiraiya staring at Inner Sakura with their eyes twitching and laughed. _At least I'm not the only one disgusted by this._

Itachi watched the Konoha team warily. He knew for a fact they weren't cowards so when they all were put onto Gamabunta's back he knew some kind of plan was in the works.

"You ready kid?" Gamabunta asked.

Sasuke came back to his senses and nodded.

Gamabunta took a deep breath and then spit out a gigantic ball of oil and Sasuke flashed through a set of seals. "Katon: Gamayu Endan (a/n-Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet)!" The flame hit the oil and created a giant fireball that incinerated the entire field.

When the flame and smoke cleared Itachi wasn't far away from the epicenter. There were crumbled bits of a rock dome all around him. He had obviously tried to protect himself with it. It hadn't entirely failed, for he was still alive, but he was badly burned and a trickle of blood had leaked from the corner of his mouth. As he stood up, trying to ready himself for the next attack, he silently cursed himself for becoming so dependant on the mangekyou over the years.

"Man, he's hard to take down!" Naruto complained. "I wish I could hit him with rasengan, but I'm not fast enough."

Sasuke blew out an angry puff of air. "Same with chidori."

"And I doubt the spit trick would work with the real Itachi," Gamabunta added.

Naruto looked at Sasuke. "Spit trick?"

Sasuke smirked. "I'll tell you later."

The team jumped down from Gamabunta. Itachi made a kage bunshin of himself and then the clone made a familiar set of seals. "Doton- Kane Genken no Jutsu (a/n- Earth style- Steel Wardog technique)!"

"That's the same technique Noriko used!" Naruto yelled as he pointed at the three steel canines that now flanked Itachi, although these were nearly the size of a pony.

Itachi's face remained stolid. "Who do you think I copied it from? Only the difference is that _I_ can use a bunshin to hold the jutsu so the real me can still fight." And with that, the dogs and Itachi charged forward.

Jiraiya was dodging a pair of steel jaws when he heard Sakura's panicked voice cut through the din created by the battle.

"Jiraiya-sama! HELP!" she cried as she burst into the field with tears streaming down her face. In her arms was a very pale Rock Lee.

Jiraiya used his hair spikes to ensnare the metal beast and throw it a good twenty yards, then ran to Sakura. "What is it?!" He asked as he looked at Lee with worry.

"I can't get the internal bleeding to stop! You've got to take him to Tsunade-sama!" Sakura said, nearly in complete panic.

Jiraiya gritted his teeth. If he left with Lee Itachi could win the fight, but if he didn't Lee would surely die and he knew he was the only one fast enough to make it in time. He looked at the boys and then back at Lee.

"I'll help them fight! Please!" Sakura begged.

Jiraiya let out a puff of air and finally nodded. "Alright. Give him to me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Sakura nodded gratefully and gently handed over the boy she loved. "Tenten should be alright by herself. I put her in a safe place."

Jiraiya nodded and left without another word, praying he had made the right decision.

Sakura ran to Inner Sakura. "Back you go. I'll need all the chakra I can get." Inner Sakura nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Naruto had seen some of the exchange between Jiraiya and Sakura. _I hope fuzzy brows will be okay._ He thought as he dodged a metal paw.

Sasuke leapt over the dog that had come for him and made a beeline for Itachi. His fist hit nothing as Itachi appear right behind him.

"You're still too slow, Otouto," Itachi said as he executed a roundhouse kick to Sasuke's middle back.

Sasuke barely managed to avoid flying face first into the dirt by putting out his hands for support. He pushed upwards off his hands, flipped horizontally, raised his legs and threw them forward, using the momentum to bring himself back to a standing position just in time to avoid being punched in the face.

Unfortunately, Itachi didn't miss a beat and promptly shoved his fist into Sasuke's kidneys.

Sakura punched a thirty foot tall rock, grabbed a long spear of stone that was among the rubble and swung it like a baseball bat. It connected with the dog she'd been fighting and sent it into the sky. It smashed back down to Earth with a giant dent in one side. It attempted to get up but its efforts were futile. Its shape was now too distorted.

"Rasengan!"

Sakura turned her head in time to see Naruto blast the dog he was fighting into a hunk of twisted metal. She smiled. _He may use rasengan a lot, but it certainly gets the job done._

Kazehana stayed out of the fight. Keeping the barrier up for so long was draining her chakra and it showed in the beads of sweat that rolled down her scaley face.

Naruto and Sakura ran to Sasuke, who was still getting hit in the gut. Sakura charged chakra to her fist and punched the ground. Plates of rock and dirt shot upwards, forcing Itachi to jump out of the way and in the process, let go of Sasuke. Sasuke fell backwards and Naruto dove through the air to catch him. The two boys rolled to a stop.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled.

Sasuke stood up, and coughed. "I'll be fine," he said as he shakily got to his feet.

Sakura immediately began pushing healing chakra into Sasuke's midsection. "It's actually not too bad. Just give me a minute."

Naruto nodded. "I'll make sure you have time." He charged up his chakra until the rainbow colors were clearly visible. It looked very similar to the first time he had covered himself in the Kyuubi's chakra during his fight with Neji.

Itachi watched Naruto for a moment. "I'm curious. Why didn't you do that from the start?"

Naruto looked confused for a moment. He hadn't expected Itachi to strike up a conversation with him. "Because I didn't need to. I had others fighting with me till now. Why waste the chakra?"

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. "I think that's the most logical I've ever heard him say," he said quietly to Sakura.

"Plus it looks really cool to suddenly be more powerful in the middle of a fight," Naruto added with a grin.

Sasuke's face fell and he smacked his hand to his forehead. "Never mind."

Naruto's expression fell into his game face. He charged up a rasengan and shot forward with incredible speed. It was only thanks to his sharingan that Itachi was able to dodge. Unfortunately for him, he didn't see Naruto had created a second rasengan at the last second in his opposite hand and was struck a glancing blow to his side as he attempted to flip out of the way.

Sakura stopped the flow of chakra and stood. "You're ready. Just try to avoid getting hit in the same spot."

"Thanks," Sasuke replied. He ran to help his little brother and Sakura followed.

Sakura mostly stayed back from the main area of the fight—punching the ground and throwing large rock chunks from the boulder she'd smashed earlier. She didn't have the speed that the others did so this was the best way she could help with someone as fast as Itachi.

Naruto reached into his pouch, pulled out his shiki kunai and threw it at Itachi's feet.

Itachi cocked an eyebrow. "Where are you aiming?" His eyes widened when he saw Naruto's hands form the rabbit seal. He barely managed to get out of the way in time to avoid Naruto's kick when the boy rematerialized near the kunai. "So my suspicions were correct. You _are_ the son of the fourth."

Naruto smirked. "The one and only."

"Naruto, c'mere," Sasuke requested. Naruto walked over to him. "I think it's time to try it out."

"But we can't do more than graze him. Even with my speed," Naruto replied.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sakura asked.

Naruto shook his head. "No time to explain."

"Okay, but if you need speed I can throw you."

Sasuke and Naruto looked at Sakura and smiled. "Okay then. Here's what we need to do..." Naruto began.

Itachi watched team seven in curiosity. After not more than a few seconds they turned around.

"Taiju kage bunshin no jutsu!" Four hundred Narutos appeared around Itachi and began to attack. The real Naruto formed a rasengan and looked to his brother. "Now remember, don't do it till we get close enough."

Sasuke gave him a look. "No shit." He and Naruto jumped and Sakura caught their ankles. She spun in a circle a few times to build momentum and released them toward their target.

Suddenly all of Naruto's clones jumped Itachi at once, managing, just barely, to hold him in place. When Naruto and Sasuke were a mere ten feet from him when Naruto called out. "NOW!"

Sasuke put his hand close to the backside of the rasengan, careful not to actually touch it. "CHIDORI" The rasengan became a ball of niji chakra and lightning.

"UZU RAIKAGAI (a/n- Vortex lighting assault)!" Naruto and Sasuke shouted together.

Sakura's eyes were wide as she watched the new jutsu. It pretty much looked like a basketball sized mass of rainbow colored lightning. She knew it would be deadly, but at the same time she was in awe of its beauty. The boys went down hard and fast, plunging the new jutsu deep into Itachi's chest. The ground around them shook and dirt blew outwards in a giant concussion ring.

Blood sprayed upward from the gaping wound and Itachi coughed up even more of the red liquid.

Kazehana let her barrier fall and walked sluggishly to the rest of the group.

Sasuke stood and watched Itachi with feelings of triumph and disbelief. Was it over? Was it _really_ over? He set his jaw, glared at Itachi and suddenly—violently—it all came tumbling out at once. He held up his blood covered first. "You see that?! You see that, you god damn BASTARD! That means it's OVER! That means I WON!" he screamed. And then Itachi did something Sasuke would never have expected. Sasuke had come up with countless scenarios over the years. Itachi begging for his life. Itachi pitifully trying to kick Sasuke in an effort to get in one last shot. Itachi cursing Sasuke to hell with his dying breath. Never...never in all his fantasies did Itachi...smile.

"Good job...otouto," Itachi said in a strained voice.

"What?!" Sasuke demanded.

"I just hope I have enough time left to tell you everything," Itachi croaked out.

Sasuke was confused, to say the least. _What the hell does he mean?_ he wondered. He wanted so desperately to shut Itachi up before he could further taint his victory, but he was morbidly curious. What could the man who had sent his life into a downward spiral have to say in his last moments?

"I'm glad...you won. It was difficult...holding back enough to give you a chance without making you suspicious. But...I have to admit...you got me completely by surprise with that last maneuver. Well done," Itachi said a smile of pride.

Sasuke let out a growl of rage and frustration. He grabbed Itachi by the front of his outfit. "What the hell is this?! Are you trying to mess up my mind even more before you die?!"

Sakura stared at Itachi's chest. The wound took up his entire right side, so at least one lung was completely gone and the other one probably wasn't in great shape either. "How are you talking? How are you even alive?"

"I studied medical ninjutsu under Tsunade." Itachi explained quickly. He turned his gaze back to Sasuke. "Otouto, you must know the truth." He closed his eyes for a moment and let out a shaky breath before continuing. "Our clan was not loyal to Konoha as the public was led to believe."

Sasuke's expression was torn as he slowly put his brother back on the ground. "What do you mean?"

"The Uchiha had fought with the Senju clan for supremacy for many years. Finally the two clans decided to make peace...and created Konoha. Uchiha Madara wanted to be the first Hokage, but he lost to Hashirama. Madara wanted to stage a coup, but the rest of the clan said they wanted peace. They made him step down as their leader. He left Konoha...and formed the Akatsuki."

"The leader of Akatsuki is an Uchiha?" Sakura repeated in disbelief. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Itachi gave a solemn smile. "What would I gain from lying?" When he noticed no one had an answer for him, he continued his story. "Over the years our clan became corrupt. The Uchiha considered their current status as Konoha police to be beneath them. " He looked at Sasuke. "By the time you entered the academy there was a coup planned to overthrow the third and take control of the village. I love Konoha. It's one of the few things I hold dear. The elders knew of this and gave me a mission...to assassinate our family."

Sasuke's eyes widened to their full capacity. "That's a lie! You did it to test your power!" he insisted.

Itachi shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry, but it's the truth." He sighed. "I knew I couldn't do it on my own and asked Madara for help. I also knew I needed more power. I learned about the mangekyou and told Shisui of my plans. Neither of us wanted to die, but to protect Konoha one of us had to. We flipped a coin. I lost. But as he was preparing to kill me I asked him to spare you and our parents. He said it would be foolish to leave witnesses, so I killed him instead."

Sasuke's eyes widened, remembering what Shisui's ghost had said.

_(("Neither of us were in a hurry to die but the clan was so full of scum by that point that there was no choice. We simply flipped a coin. I won. As I was preparing to kill the only friend I'd ever had he betrayed me...and I was killed instead." Shisui's face became angry. "As I lay dying he told me he believed it was better if he was the one who survived because he thought he was stronger and had a better chance than I did." )) _

Sasuke shook his head to bring his thoughts back to the present. "But you killed mom and dad anyway!" he cried.

"No. That was Orochimaru. I found him standing over their bodies. He asked me if there was anyone else. I lied and said no, so the Akatsuki left. I'd done what I had to, but the pain in my heart was too much. I wanted to die, but even after what I'd done I didn't have the courage to kill myself. I decided the best way to end my life was to make you think I had done everything alone—to make you want to kill me."

Sasuke's eyes filled with tears as memories came back to him of that horrible night. Suddenly everything he had thought he remembered over the years was wrong. Images he'd repressed. Images of himself chasing Itachi, and of Itachi...crying. It all came back to him with such swiftness that he felt like he'd been punched in the stomach.

"I'm sorry, Otouto. I'm sorry for all I've put you through. I hope that someday you can forgive me. Please...protect Konoha...and protect those you love or it was all...for noth..." He didn't get to finish his sentence. His eyes slowly closed and Uchiha Itachi...was no more.

Sasuke stared in disbelief. He had wanted this. He'd hunted Itachi, prepared himself through training but he hadn't counted on all these revelations. Suddenly he dropped to his knees, overwhelmed with grief. "NII-SAAAAAAAAN!"

Sakura's hand went to her mouth as tears rolled down her face. To see Sasuke like this was awful. She wanted to hug him, comfort him, but she knew he would just shove her away.

Naruto tried to stop his tears but was miserably unsuccessful. _Sasuke..._

"Dammit dammit dammit!" Sasuke screeched as he punched the ground with each word. "It wasn't supposed to be like this! You were supposed to be evil. You weren't supposed to be the brother I remembered. I was supposed to be _happy_ today!!" He took a few shaky breaths. "Who said you could make decisions for me?! I WOULD HAVE FORGIVEN YOU!" He fell forward, sobbing, onto Itachi's chest. "I would have forgiven you," he finished in a soft voice.

Naruto and Sakura did the only thing they could do—They sat down on either side of him...and let him cry.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

I am so glad that mess is done with. I hope I did their final battle justice. Thank you very much to my brother CrakBaby, who made sure I wasn't lazy with the fight. :)

I'm sorry this took so long. I truly am, but as usual, life got in the way. I also just got over a nasty flu. I hope I can get the next one out sooner. I seem to be loosing readers cause of the long time between chapters. ((wince)) But even if just ten people want to keep reading, I'll keep writing. I wanna see the end too. :)

Once I finish chapter three I'm quitting on the radioplay. I just don't have the time for it. I'm sorry to all those who enjoyed it. Maybe I'll pick it up again one day.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. :) Next up is the trip home, some time in Konoha, and then the chuunin exams. :)

Ja na,  
Song


	27. Free

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 27

* * *

Jiraiya's lungs were burning by the time he returned to team seven, and as he ran onto the field where the battle had been he got a shock. Not only was his team alive, but it looked like Itachi was the one the ground. When he reached the group his eyes widened at the severity of Itachi's wound. "H...how did you...?" he asked softly.

Sakura looked up at the old hermit. "Naruto and Sasuke did it. They used a combination jutsu I've never seen before." She looked down at Sasuke. "We won," she said quietly.

Jiraiya was confused. He would have thought everyone would be happy, but as his gaze followed Sakura's he knew something was very wrong. "Why do all of you look so depressed?"

"We'll explain on the way. Right now we need to leave," Naruto answered.

"I hope you don't mind, Naruto-kun, but I need to go home and rest," Kazehana said with slowly drooping eyelids.

Naruto gave her a small smile. "No prob. You did great."

Kazehana responded with a grateful, yet sleepy smile before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Jiraiya frowned and, with a long sigh, knelt down next to Sasuke. "I'm sorry, but I need to take him," he said gently.

Without a word Sasuke slowly stood and began to walk towards home.

The depth of Jiraiya's frown increased as he scooped up Itachi's body. He stood and looked at the other two. "Let's go."

Naruto and Sakura nodded and the three took off after Sasuke.

* * *

Tsunade sighed and dragged her hands along the top of her head. There were days she hated being the Hokage. After hearing Jiraiya's report she very much wanted to kick the elders into the stratosphere but her position prevented her from doing that. She looked at Jiraiya. "I want Uchiha Sasuke under suicide watch."

"I'll do it," Naruto offered quietly. "He's my brother. I should be the one to take care of him."

Tsunade nodded in understanding. "Alright." The team stood to leave when she spoke once more. "And Naruto, Sakura—good work," she said with a small smile.

The two teens nodded their solemn thanks and left.

Tsunade turned to her dark-haired side kick. "Shizune, sake, and lots of it."

Shizune hung her head and sighed, then left the room.

* * *

"Well, I better be going. It's a long walk back to my place," Jiraiya commented as they stepped out into the moonlight.

Naruto looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "You have a place?"

Jiraiya smirked. "Sort of. I don't even really live there. It's just where I store my stuff."

Naruto laughed. "We'll see you later then."

"Send word if you need me." Jiraiya held up a hand. "Ja."

Naruto watched him go for a moment before turning back to Sakura. "We better go check on Sasuke."

"Nhm," Sakura answered as they started walking. "Neh, Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?" Naruto replied absentmindedly, his thoughts obviously somewhere else.

"Do you think he'll be alright?"

A small smile curled its way across Naruto's face. "I think so. I mean, he's a survivor. Always has been. I'd expect him to take revenge on the elders before I'd think he'd kill himself."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah." Silence. "Do you think he likes Tenten?"

Naruto's turned his head sideways. "Ehhh?"

"I've just been thinking. What if he was avoiding her because he was worried about falling for her?"

Naruto almost laughed. "Oh come on. The guy who's pushed away every girl who's come at him is suddenly gonna have a crush? Not a chance."

"It's not sudden. It's been building since last October. And she _isn't_ every girl who's come at him. She's one of the few girls in Konoha who hasn't made stalking him her life's work."

Naruto snickered. "Like you?"

Sakura's fist wasted no time in making full contact with the top of Naruto's head. "Shut up, baka!"

Naruto rubbed his head. "Okay okay. Sheesh. Lighten up will ya?"

Sakura calmed down. "Anyway. I've never seen him just start avoiding a friend for no apparent reason. I wonder what's going to happen now that Itachi's dead."

Naruto looked completely lost. "What's that got to do with Tenten?"

Sakura palmed her forehead. "Ugh. You are such an idiot. Obviously the only reason he would be worried about falling for her is that he didn't want her to be hurt if he died fighting Itachi."

Naruto just blinked for a moment. "This has gotta be one of those 'girl things' that guys just aren't meant to understand."

Sakura sighed and shook her head. "Boys are so completely clueless."

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto and Sakura stopped mid-step and turned around to see Hinata running toward them.

"Hina-chan!" Naruto called out happily. He opened his arms wide and pulled Hinata into a tight embrace.

Sakura smiled but it quickly faded. "Neh, do you mind if I go see Lee-kun instead?" She knew now that Hinata was there she didn't have to keep Naruto company. Although she was worried about Sasuke, Lee had much more than a mental wound.

Naruto nodded. "Go ahead. I'll be fine."

"Thanks. I'll see you later." And with that, Sakura headed for the hospital.

"How was your mission?" Hinata asked after a moment.

Naruto's smile fell away. "Complicated."

"Oh...so it's something you can't tell me?" Hinata asked tentatively.

Naruto shook his head. "No. It's nothing like that. It's just that...I'm not sure exactly how to feel about it."

Hinata clasped his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Naruto's smile returned. "Come on. I'll tell you while we walk."

* * *

"If that's what's going on then maybe I shouldn't go with you. I don't know if he even really considers me a friend. He might be offended," Hinata said.

Naruto frowned in thought. "I think it'll be okay, as long as you don't say much," he said with a small smile.

They walked up to the door of Sasuke's apartment and Naruto knocked. There was no answer so he tried again.

"He's not there."

Naruto and Hinata turned around to see Kakashi standing behind them.

"I've been looking for him for about twenty minutes. You're both free to join me," Kakashi explained.

The two teens nodded and the search was resumed. _I hope we find him soon,_ Naruto thought.

* * *

Sakura put a hand over her heart and let out a long, relieved sigh. "Thank god."

The doctor put her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "You did a better job than you thought at stopping the bleeding. If you hadn't helped him on the field we would've lost him."

Sakura gave the doctor a grateful smile. "Arigato."

"She's right you know," Tsunade said as she walked down the hallway towards Sakura. "In fact, you're doing well enough in your studies that I think we can move you to 'B' rank techniques."

Sakura grinned. "Arigato, Shishou," she said with a bow.

"He really shouldn't have visitors until morning, but I'll let you in for a few minutes if you promise to be quiet," Tsunade said with a smile.

"Of course," Sakura replied happily.

As the two walked into the room Sakura felt her chest gain a bit in weight. The sight of Lee lying there, hooked up to several machines, was difficult for her. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "You really scared me, you idiot," she said as she leaned down and lovingly kissed his forehead.

"Sssa...ku...ra?"

Sakura's eyes flashed wide as she lifted her head to see that Lee's eyes were partially open. A single tear of relief rolled down her cheek. "I'm here. I'm here," she repeated as she clasped his hand in hers.

A tiny smile crossed Lee's lips. "Did...we win?"

Sakura let out a small laugh. "Yes."

"Alright. You need to go now," Tsunade said gently as she put a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura nodded. "Okay." She leaned down and gave Lee a small kiss. "I'll be back in the morning. I promise. You get better, okay?"

Lee gave her a weak smile and nod. As he watched Sakura walk out the door his eyelids became heavy and he fell back to sleep.

* * *

Naruto, Hinata and Kakashi found Sasuke sitting in a tree at their old training field. He was nestled in the 'V' part of the trunk of a large tree, staring up at the sky. He didn't even turn around before he spoke. "I need to be alone right now, Naruto."

"I know. But Kaa-san told me to put you on suicide watch," Naruto explained with a wince.

Sasuke turned around. "Are you serious?" he asked with an incredulous expression.

Kakashi stepped out of the shadows. "It's a valid concern, Sasuke."

Sasuke shook his head and turned his gaze back to the sky. "Kakashi-sensei, if I was prone to suicide over traumatic events in my life don't you think I would have done it a long time ago?" he said with a slightly bitter tone to his voice.

"I suppose. But even if you _are_ okay, orders are orders," Kakashi explained. "I have to report the situation to Tsunade-sama. Naruto, I'm sure you can handle things here." He left after Naruto had nodded his answer.

"I know you've got to do your job, but I really don't feel like talking," Sasuke said to Naruto.

Naruto nodded, having understood the not so subtle hint. And although it went against his very nature, he decided on giving Sasuke his space. "No prob. Come on, Hina-chan," he said with a smile as he held out his hand to her. She accepted it and they walked to the other side of the field.

* * *

Around ten-o-clock Sasuke jumped down from his perch. "I'm going home."

Naruto nodded as he and Hinata stood up from where they had been lying down. They had used the time to watch the stars together. "Okay. But I gotta come with you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sighed. "Do what you need to do," he said as he began walking.

Naruto pulled Hinata into his arms, gave her a short kiss, and then rested his forehead against hers. "I'll see you in the morning."

Hinata smiled. "Hai. Oyasumi, Naruto-kun."

"Oyasumi," Naruto answered. He then turned around and followed after his brother.

* * *

Naruto parked himself in from of the door to Sasuke's bedroom to keep watch over his brother and had set the alarm on the clock he'd brought with him just in case he nodded off. He even made sure to set it early so he would be sure to wake up before Sasuke. "Oyasumi, Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed. "Yeah yeah. Just don't wake me up."

Naruto shrugged at his brother's complete lack of interest in conversation and made sure he was in a comfortable position for the nights vigil. He did everything he could to stay awake, but eventually sleep's siren song got the better of him and his eyes slid closed.

* * *

Naruto woke up and looked around the room. Unfortunately, Sasuke had apparently had the same idea as far as alarm clocks were concerned and when Naruto saw Sasuke's bed was empty and the window was open his expression flattened into a glare. "Damn it."

* * *

The door to Sasuke's old house opened with a protesting creak. He wandered slowly through the rooms, lost in his thoughts. Occasionally he would come across an object that had been left there from when he was younger, pick it up and put it in the large sack he had brought with him. It wasn't long before the bag was nearly half full.

The last room he visited was Itachi's. It looked exactly as he remembered it and that made his heart sink. He tried to ignore the feelings from the memories flooding his mind as he walked around, collecting whatever else he could fit in the sack, and finally came to a picture of him and his brother that rested on the nightstand. He picked up the photo and stared at Itachi's face for a moment before sighing and adding the image to his collection.

* * *

Naruto's face was frozen in an irritated frown as he jumped over the rooftops in search of Sasuke. "Damn him. He _knows_ Kaa-san will kill me if I she finds out I lost sight of him. I'm gonna kick his ass when I catch up."

* * *

Sasuke walked into his room, pushed the bed away from its spot on the floor and knelt down. His fingers traced the floorboards for a minute or so before he found what he was looking for. He wriggled his fingers under the edge of one of the boards and lifted it up to reveal a small hole. He reached inside and pulled out a three-inch square box. He opened the box to reveal a ring with the Uchiha symbol on it and the memory of the day he'd received it came back to him.

_(("Sasuke. Here," Itachi said with a smile as he held out a small box. _

_Sasuke opened it and looked at its contents with a quizzical expression. "What's this for?" _

"_It's a present to celebrate your first day of school." _

_Sasuke's expression brightened. He took out the ring and tried to put it on, but the crest on the top kept slipping down the side, finally coming to rest underneath his finger. "It's too big," he complained with a pout. _

_Itachi laughed. "Tou-san gave it to me when I became a chuunin. You'll grow into it." He bent over and flicked Sasuke's forehead.)) _

Sasuke closed his eyes with a sigh, then opened them and put on the ring. "Thanks...Nii-san," he said as he put the box back in its place.

* * *

As Sasuke walked out of the front door of his parents' house Naruto landed in front of him.

"Are you _trying_ to get me killed?" Naruto asked loudly, his expression impatient.

Sasuke didn't respond beyond a quick shrug. He slung his bag over his shoulder, making him resemble an emo version of Santa Claus, and started to walk away.

"Oi!" Naruto protested as he stepped in front of Sasuke again.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's _your_ job to keep an eye on me. It's not _my_ fault if you suck at it." And with that he side-stepped Naruto and continued walking.

It took all of Naruto's self control not to start yelling a string of choice insults. _I shouldn't insult him while he's depressed. I shouldn't insult him while he's depressed,_ he chanted in his mind. Instead he bit the inside of his bottom lip till it bled and then followed Sasuke. After a few minutes he calmed down and let out a relieved sigh. _At least he's okay._

* * *

Four days later, Sasuke opened his eyes after the first nightmare-free sleep he'd had in ages. He blinked a few times and looked around the room. _Something's weird._ He got up, tossed the covers to one side and opened the window shade. As he stared out at the view from his window something was missing, but he couldn't put his finger on it so he decided to get dressed.

As he sat down to put on his shoes he looked to his bedside table. The portrait of himself and Itachi stared back at him and suddenly he realized what was different. Revenge—the weight of it was gone from his heart. He picked up the picture and his eyes misted over. "I'm free...We're both free," he whispered. The knowledge of this made his heart feel lighter as he finally understood that his life was now an unwritten book. For the first time since that awful night he felt like he had a future.

After a moment he put the photo back in its place of honor and smiled. Now that he knew he had a chance to live his life as he wanted to, that he wasn't sure he would die young, he had someone to talk to...

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Hi guys. :) Well, this is a little sooner than the last two chapters. Hopefully it's a sign I'll be doing better. Part of it is cause I'm not writing a battle at the moment. Lol.

**Ari-san:** it's Konbanwa, not konbonwa. I wasn't paying attention, so I don't remember whether it was the evening or not, but Ohayo (adding gozaimasu for extra politeness) means good morning, Konichiwa means good afternoon, and konbanwa means good evening. **((Yup yup. It's evening. Trust me. I know my greeting times. And I have a hard enough time spelling in my own language, never mind another. Lol. But I try my best.))**

Oh, and I'm amazed no one called me on this, but I left Kazehana out of a large chunk of chapter 26. It's not a lot, but I fixed the problem. :)

The rookie nin will be heading to the chuunin exams soon. I'm kinda dreading it simply cause Pein will be there and I need him to live, but I also need the Konoha people to get out of there safely. ((Head-desk)) Why do I do this to myself?

Time for my chapterly begging session- If there's anyone willing do work on COLAD doujinshi pages _**please**_ PM me. Charu-san said she doesn't have the heart to continue with the scene she's been working on (Drawing Naruto sliced open bothers her). So all I really need at the moment is someone who can finish the scene. ((Gets on knees)) Pwease?

Ja na,

Song


	28. Fixing Bridges

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 28

* * *

Naruto sighed happily as the white rope hammock he and Hinata currently occupied swung lazily back and forth. There was a Hyuuga chaperone watching them from roughly twenty feet away. Hiashi had insisted on it, saying he would not allow the couple to lie down in a hammock unsupervised, even if it _was_ outside.

Every once in a while a cool breeze would drift through the Hyuuga compound, caressing their faces and adding to the romantic atmosphere. Naruto was in absolute bliss. If someone had come to him only four years ago and told him that his life would turn out to be so good he would have laughed in their face and then told them angrily to stop screwing with his head. He reverently kissed her right temple. "I love you," he whispered in her ear.

Hinata smiled, made a tiny, happy squeak, and snuggled closer to her boyfriend. "I love you too."

The chaperone glanced at the face of the large sundial that decorated the center of the large rock garden to one side of the enormous yard. "Excuse me, Hinata-sama, but it's time for lunch," he said pleasantly.

Hinata frowned. "Okay." And the couple got up from their resting position.

* * *

Sasuke had been walking around the perimeter of Tenten's home for nearly an hour. Several times he had nearly gone up to the door but the cement in the pit of his stomach seemed to prevent such an event.

_This is stupid_, he thought on his tenth trip around the seemingly endless circle. _It's not like I'm going to ask her out or something. Why can't I just do this?_

It was then that Sakura happened to wander by. "It's about time you apologized to her," she commented with her hands on her hips.

Sasuke glared at her. "Back off, Sakura," he said in a low, steady voice.

"She'll forgive you, you know," Sakura said with a bit of sympathy entering her voice.

Sasuke stopped his glaring and stared at her for a moment. "What?"

"That's why you haven't gone in yet, isn't it? You're afraid she'll tell you to get lost?" Sakura replied gently.

Sasuke's gaze flew downward. "I don't know." Silence. "Maybe."

Sakura sighed and laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Sasuke-kun, it's okay. Just explain to her why you were avoiding her."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "I can't!" he snapped. He sighed in frustration and looked down again. "Not the whole reason, anyway," he finished quietly.

"You like her...don't you," Sakura said carefully.

Sasuke made an odd sound that almost resembled choking. "I don't know about _liking_ her but I did realize at Kakashi's wedding that I was attracted to her. After I knew that I _had_ to stay away..."

"Because you were afraid that if you two fell in love you'd wind up hurting her because you were most likely going to be killed by Itachi," Sakura finished for him.

Sasuke raised his head and gave her a quizzical look. "How the hell do girls do that?"

Sakura just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I gotta go. Good luck."

"Thanks," Sasuke said with a slight tone of bitterness. He didn't like being found out when it came to his emotions.

As Sakura walked away he took a deep breath and finally told his feet to walk down the path to Tenten's door. Shortly after he knocked a strong looking woman with short, black hair and athletic build greeted him.

She frowned instantly when she saw who the visitor was. "Oh, it's _you_," she said with obvious disdain.

Sasuke cleared his throat nervously. "Konnichiwa. May I see Tenten please?" he said with a short bow.

Tenten's mother cocked an eyebrow and folded her arms. "That depends. Are you going to upset her again?"

"No mam. At least, I hope not. I came to apologize to her," Sasuke replied respectfully.

Tenten's mother eyed him warily for a moment. "Alright. But if you don't behave you'll find out she's not the only girl in this house with a collection of deadly weapons," she said as she stepped aside to allow him entrance.

Sasuke cast the woman a nervous smile and walked inside.

* * *

"Tenten-chan?"

Tenten looked up from the weapons catalogue she was reading. "Yeah, mom?"

"Uchiha Sasuke is here to see you," Tenten's mother announced through the closed bedroom door.

"He is?" Tenten asked in surprise.

"Mm-hmm."

Silence.

"You can let him in," came Tenten's reply.

Tenten's mother gave Sasuke one last warning glance before heading back downstairs.

Sasuke sighed and opened the door. "Yo, Tenten."

Tenten's expression was guarded. "Yo. (a.n- 'Yo' roughly means 'hey' in Japanese) " She waved a hand towards a chair near her bed. "Have a seat."

The two were silent for a while before either of them spoke. Tenten accepted the silence as Sasuke working up the nerve to speak, although waiting was driving her nuts.

"It wasn't you," Sasuke said finally.

"Huh?"

"I wasn't avoiding you because of anything you did. I had something I needed to work out," Sasuke continued.

Tenten folded her arms, making her bare a striking resemblance to her mother, and making Sasuke all the more nervous. "What was it then?"

"I...I can't tell you. It's complicated," Sasuke said as he studied the back of his hand.

Tenten frowned and sighed. "Well then I guess you really didn't want to apologize then," she said angrily.

_Dammit! Why do women have to be so complicated?_ Sasuke thought in frustration. "Please," he pleaded. "Telling you would make things more complicated than they need to be."

Tenten's frown deepened and her body slumped a bit as she thought. She was still upset at him, but if she didn't forgive him then she would be losing one of her best friends. Her need for his friendship won the emotional battle. "Will this ever happen again?"

"No. I promise," Sasuke replied quickly. His eyes were filled with regret for the trouble he had caused.

"Will you tell me someday?"

Sasuke looked away for a moment before meeting her gaze again. "Maybe. It depends on what happens in the future."

"Okay. I forgive you then," Tenten said as her expression relaxed a bit.

Relief flooded Sasuke's features and he bowed to her. "Arigato."

"But you gotta go now. It's almost lunch time."

Sasuke smiled a little. "Okay." He got up to leave and paused at the door. "I'll see you later then?" he asked hopefully.

Tenten nodded and a smile began to tug at the corners of her lips. "You got it."

* * *

"I'll see you later, Hina-chan," Naruto said before giving her a goodbye kiss.

Neji walked up to the couple before Hinata could respond. "Naruto. Hiashi-sama would like you to join him for lunch."

Naruto immediately looked like a rabbit caught in a trap. "Are you sure? Cause last I checked I wasn't the type to be invited to fancy dinners."

"It's not dinner, Naruto, it's lunch. All you have to do is practice a little decorum and you'll be fine."

And just then the rabbit died of fright. "Have you _seen_ me eat?" Naruto said in an effort to make Neji see reason.

Hinata quickly intervened. "You should be happy. Inviting you to lunch means father has accepted you," she said happily.

Naruto's expression didn't improve much. "Yeah. That—or he wants an opportunity to see me screw up."

Hinata gave his arm a comforting squeeze. "It'll be alright," she said with a bright smile.

Naruto sighed. "Okay, but just remember, you're the one that talked me into this."

Hinata smiled, but underneath it her stomach was a bundle of nerves.

* * *

Tsunade looked over the team data for those that would be attending the chuunin exam. She was looking for a replacement to complete Shikamaru's old team since he could not enter the exam with them. "Ugh. Why did their graduating class have to be so even in number?" Just then Nabiki came in with a sheet of paper in her hand.

"Good news, Hokage-sama. The Kazekage has agreed to let her on the team!" she announced cheerfully.

Tsunade slumped in relief. "Oh thank Kami-sama. At least that's _one_ less headache I have to deal with," she said as she closed the roster, then looked at the clock and frowned. "Do you know where my son is?"

Nabiki gave the Godaime a knowing smile. "Last I heard he was at Hinata's house."

* * *

Hinata released Naruto's hand just before they entered the room. Guests were meant to enter single file. "You'll be fine. Just do what I told you," she whispered.

Naruto nodded and walked in, praying to God he wouldn't screw up.

Hiashi was seated at the head of the low table and places had been set for four others. "Greetings, Naruto,"

Naruto gulped and bowed low. "Konnichiwa, Hiashi-sama. It is a great honor to be invited to your table."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow but smiled. "You are welcome. Please, be seated," he said as he waved a hand at the cushion closest to him on the right.

Naruto inclined his head in a polite nod and took his seat.

Hinata, Neji and Hanabi all walked into the room one at a time and sat down. Hinata sat across from Naruto, Neji sat next to him and Hanabi sat next to her sister.

The group sat in polite silence for a short while until a woman arrived with their food. As she put down the plate in front of Naruto he almost told the woman he wasn't fond of squid but Hinata's voice in his mind stopped him. _((No matter what they put in front of you, accept it graciously.))_ He nearly jumped for joy when onegiri (a/n- riceballs) were also given to him.

"Hinata tells me your class will be attending the chuunin exam this year," Hiashi said as he picked up a piece of squid with his chopsticks.

Naruto looked up, his heart racing with panic. He hadn't thought to wait and see if anyone was going to speak to him and already had his mouth full of onegiri.

Hinata winced and glanced nervously back and forth between her father and her boyfriend.

Hiashi tapped his fingers as he waited for Naruto to finish chewing.

Naruto finally swallowed. "Gomen."

Hiashi cleared his throat. "Naruto-san. In the future you would do well to remember that the head of the table takes the first bite."

"Gomen. I didn't mean to be rude," Naruto said nervously.

Hiashi sighed. "At any rate. I would like you to answer my question now."

Naruto tried his best to look confident. "Yeah. I plan to make chuunin this time. I've been training hard."

"I should hope so. Seeing as how I hear your mother has been training you in the duties of a Hokage."

"Yes, Sir."

Hiashi looked at Naruto's food with raised eyebrows. "Is something wrong with your meal?" he asked in regards to the fact that Naruto hadn't touched his food since his first bite.

"No, Sir. I just wasn't sure when I could eat," Naruto answered with an apologetic wince.

"You can eat any time now, Naruto-kun," Hinata answered with a gentle smile.

"I invited you to lunch for two reasons. One—I need to speak to you about a few things, and two—your mother wants me to teach you proper manners." He noticed Naruto's eyes go wide but continued. "Now, since I only have time for the first item, I have decided Hinata will assist you on the second."

Although the fact that Hinata would be his manners teacher made him feel volumes better than he had a moment ago, he was still worried. "So...what do you need to know?"

"That will be left for when we can speak in private. For now, let us enjoy our meal," Hiashi said with a polite smile.

Naruto went back to eating and was done with his onegiri in relatively short order. The last thing on his plate...was the squid. He desperately looked over the table, trying to find something to add to the squid to make it more edible. He spotted a plate of butter in front of Hinata...and reached across the table to get it.

Hanabi's hand immediately made contact with her forehead and Hiashi's eye twitched. Neji elbowed Naruto.

"You don't reach across the table. You ask someone to pass the butter to you," he whispered harshly.

Naruto's hand stopped just before reaching the butter and he settled back down into a sitting position, his cheeks pink with embarrassment. "Gomen. Um, H-Hina-chan, can you pass me the butter please?"

"Hai, Naruto-kun," Hinata answered. She picked up the butter and handed it to him.

Hiashi sighed heavily. "I see why your manners are such a priority to your mother," he said with a slight glare.

* * *

Naruto's stomach was doing back flips as he waited for the others to finish leaving the room. Hinata gave him an encouraging smile as she left but it did little to calm his nerves.

"I have noticed your relationship with Hinata intensifying in the last few months," Hiashi said with an even tone.

Naruto swallowed and nodded. He managed to retain his composure, but truthfully he was terrified that he might have done something wrong and he would no longer be able to date Hinata.

"You know she will be of legal age in just a little over a year."

Naruto's heart pounded louder. "Er...Yes, Sir," he replied nervously.

"I would like to know what your plans are for your relationship should it continue after that point," Hiashi asked bluntly.

Naruto's eyes widened to full capacity. "I...I, um...th—that is I..."

"Well, it would seem that I need to be more direct. Do you intend to marry my daughter?"

Naruto couldn't believe Hiashi was asking that kind of a question to a boy who was just under fifteen-years old. Both his surprise and fear of rejection kept him silent. He felt like his lungs were being crushed to death by his own ribcage.

Hiashi frowned when he did not receive an answer. "Young man—I will not have Hinata devote her time to a relationship that will not end with marriage. Now, I ask you again—Do you plan to marry her?"

Naruto finally managed to will his mouth to work. "Yes, Sir. I do," he said firmly, although the fear in his eyes was evident.

Hiashi nodded in approval. "Very well." He took up a kanji brush, dipped it in the ink bottle on the table in front of him and hovered it over a piece of parchment. "Please choose a date after her sixteenth birthday and I will have the betrothal papers drawn up."

Naruto's eyes bulged. "B-but..."

Hiashi looked annoyed that he was being made to wait. "Well?"

Naruto's mind was racing. _What if I say no? Will he make me break up with her?_ Even though he knew the whole thing was insane he answered the only way Hiashi wanted him to. "M-May eighteenth."

Hiashi looked at Naruto for a moment, seemingly stunned. "You're serious, aren't you?"

Naruto gave him a shaky nod.

Hiashi smiled and put down the brush. "You can relax. I was only testing you."

Naruto's jaw dropped. Was he serious? "What?"

"You had better be a good husband to her."

Now Naruto's voice changed to hope. "What?"

"When you are old enough to ask her...you have my blessing," Hiashi replied.

Naruto face broke out into a large smile and he bowed low. "Arigato gozaimasu!"

"You are a fine young man, Naruto. I'm sorry I ever doubted the fact of it." Hiashi's face changed to a smirk. "Now we just have to shape your manners a bit so that you can fit into polite society."

"I'll try, but I can't make any promises," Naruto replied with a wince.

Hiashi chuckled. "At least you are willing to try. You may rejoin Hinata now."

"Arigato, Sir." Naruto stood, bowed once more, and left.

Once Naruto was gone Hiashi shook his head and sighed. "That boy is lucky the documents office is closed on Sundays or I might have made him go through with it," he said with a light chuckle. And with that, he also left the room, secure in the knowledge that his daughter would be happy.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Good grief. I can't believe something this easy took me so bloody long. It was a combination of not being able to find time to write and my beta readers not being on AIM at the same time I was. It's only 100 words shy of 3000 so I hope everyone is okay with the length.

COLAD now has a deviant art page! Just head on over to **COLAD-art-gallery DOT deviantart DOT com**. You can view official COLAD art, fanart and any doujinshis that have been made. If you subscribe to the channel you'll get any updates for the gallery and the fic via the journal feature. Speaking of which, there are a couple of new doujin pages and a few new fanarts. :)

If anyone is interested, once Sims 3 comes out I will be making Sims versions of my original characters (Including Kikyo, so you can torment her however you like.—Evil grin—). I'll be announcing the release of these Sims on the deviant art gallery and on my forums. :)

I know some of you were hoping for SasuTen romance but I think it's still too soon. Remember, this is Sasuke we're talking about. It has to be done slowly to be believable.

Hopefully I'll see you guys soon. :) Enjoy all the new stuff! :)

Ja na,

Song


	29. Mine

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 29

* * *

Naruto was belly-flopped on his bed, while blue curtains floated lazily on the breeze that wafted into his room through the open window. It had been three days since he'd had lunch with the Hyuuga's but he was starting to wonder if the butterflies in his stomach were planning on settling down and starting a family. They just would _not_ go away. He couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened. He was terrified that Hiashi still might force the issue and make them get married right after they were of legal age. He _did_ plan to marry Hinata but there was no way in hell he felt he would be ready till he was eighteen at least. There was also the fact that he wanted to propose to Hinata properly, not have everything planned by her father.

A knock at the door chased away his thoughts and he rolled his head towards it. "Yeah?"

"Can I come in?" asked Sakura's voice.

"Sure." Naruto sat up as Sakura entered the room.

"It's time for practice," she said with a smile.

"Okay," Naruto said as he got up and grabbed his equipment pouch. He paused in the middle of adding some extra shuriken and sighed. "Sakura-chan? Do...do you think you're gonna marry fuzzy brows?"

Sakura's cheeks turned nine levels of pink. "I...I don't know," she stuttered in embarrassment. "I mean, we're a little young to be seriously thinking about that."

"I'm gonna marry Hinata," Naruto said seriously as he sat on the floor next to his bag.

Sakura's eyes flashed wide. "You proposed?!" she asked, the pitch of her voice rising several octaves.

Naruto's expression became mortified. "No-o!" he said hurriedly. He paused for a moment and then sighed. "I just meant that I plan to ask her someday."

Sakura raised her eyebrows and sat down next to her friend. "When did you decide this?"

Naruto smiled slightly. "At Kakashi and Tomoyo-san's wedding."

Now it was Sakura's turn to smile. "Well I hope it happens, cause you two are great together."

Naruto grinned. "Thanks, Sakura-chan," he said, his nerves calming a little. "We better get going. Kakashi might actually show up on time for a change."

Both of them laughed and they stood up. Sakura opened the door but paused mid-step. "By the way—what brought that up?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he suddenly felt the need to be out of the room. "Umm, we're gonna be late. Race ya!" he said just before bolting down the hall so fast all Sakura saw was a blue and green blur.

Sakura stood there for a moment in confusion. "What was that all about?"

* * *

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke sat in the middle of the training field. Every once in a while they would glare at the empty road, sigh, and return to doing nothing. Finally Sakura looked towards the boys.

"I've been meaning to ask you two—when did you come up with that new jutsu?"

Naruto lazily lolled his head to one side. "Not long after Tomoyo-san showed me the Namikaze complex."

Sasuke cut in. "I thought he was nuts, but we pulled it off. And it only took two weeks."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You created and perfected something like that in two weeks?! But it's such a dangerous jutsu!"

Naruto chuckled. "And we nearly killed ourselves a couple times practicing too."

Sakura's expression became incredulous as Sasuke snickered at Naruto's remark. "I don't find the two of you nearly _dying_ from creating a new jutsu without supervision funny!" she said, raising her voice slightly as she got to her feet.

Naruto stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura-chan, we're fine. Coming up with new jutsu is risky, but it kinda comes with being a ninja."

Sakura shoved his hand away. "And stupidity comes with being you, apparently!" she snapped.

Sasuke frowned and jumped to his feet as well. "Will you calm down?"

Kakashi came strolling toward them and Sakura rounded on him. "Did they tell you what they did?!" she demanded.

Kakashi just blinked for a moment. "Huh?"

Sakura pointed an accusing finger at her team mates. "They pushed themselves to finish that new jutsu in only two weeks!"

Kakashi lowered his book to his hip. "You did that in only two weeks? I'm impressed."

Now Sakura was furious. "You're supposed to be their mentor! Don't be impressed! Tell them what they did was wrong!"

Kakashi looked at Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom simply shrugged. "Well, I admit they should have had a jounin supervisor, but I'm not going to scold them for being successful at something like this. Especially when most genin couldn't even pull off the jutsu they combined to create the new one."

"AUUUGGGH!!" Sakura screamed. She then smacked both Naruto and Sasuke upside their heads before storming off down the road.

The boys looked at each other for a moment. "This is one of those times I really feel bad for Lee," Sasuke remarked.

Naruto and Kakashi nodded in agreement and the three began their practice.

* * *

"Hmpf. Deidara already had his shot," Kisame remarked in an irritated voice.

"True, but Tobi is the only one who can believably portray a genin. The rest of you are too mature," Pein replied. "And naturally Deidara has to go along seeing as how he's the only one who can get this idiot," he said pointing at Tobi, "to focus on something for more than thirty seconds."

The pout was detectable in Tobi's voice. "Heeeey. I'm not an idiot. Tobi is a good boy."

A collective sigh arose from the other Akatsuki and Pein cleared his throat. "Tobi, I need to know that you will take this mission seriously."

Tobi promptly saluted. "Osu!"

Pein sighed. "Deidara, he's in your hands."

"Nhm," Deidara confirmed.

* * *

"REALLY?!" Tenten squealed excitedly.

Tsunade squinted in pain and rubbed at her left ear. "_Must_ you do that?"

Tenten smiled sheepishly. "Gomen, Tsunade-sama."

"And yes, really," Tsunade said with a smile. "Now that Naruto is handling some of my less important paperwork I have enough time. But since I'm still training Sakura I can only work with you once a week."

Tenten bowed. "I'm grateful for any amount of time. Arigato."

Tsunade grinned. "You're welcome. Now I need to get back to work."

"Hai! See you Friday," Tenten said. She then turned around and walked out of the office.

Naruto's pen snaked backwards as he finished off the last part of the kanji for his mother's name. He put the pen back in its holder and let out a long sigh. "Done." He paused. "Tell me again why we can't use kage bunshins to speed up the work?" he asked as put both arms above his head and cracked his knuckles.

"Because Konoha doesn't need its kage unable to fight during a time of crisis because of chakra exhaustion," Tsunade said in an exasperated tone.

"Oh come on. I have more than enough chakra to create one or two and still be fine if something happens," Naruto countered as he sat straighter.

Tsunade frowned. "Be that as it may, you need to learn that being Hokage doesn't mean making shortcuts regarding important papers."

Naruto folded his arms, leaned back, and smirked. "I think you're just jealous that you don't have enough chakra to make that kind of shortcut."

Tsunade's eye twitched. _Damn it._ She stabbed a finger toward the door. "Out! Before I make you do the chuunin stack too!"

Naruto laughed and poofed out of the room.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "One of these days I'm going to forget that I don't want to kill him." She sighed heavily and sat back down to her stack of papers.

* * *

Naruto had a spring in his step as he walked toward the Hyuuga complex. Granted, he was on his way to start his training in manners, but since his teacher was Hinata he really didn't mind so much. He noticed Tenten and Sasuke sitting on a bench by the side of the road, talking about something. He knew it was sort of rude, but Sakura had told him Sasuke was going to apologize to Tenten and he was curious to see how things had gone.

He masked his chakra and found a place to hide behind the trunk of an extremely large tree, then he made a kage bunshin and turned it into a chipmunk. "You know what to do," he said with a grin.

The chipmunk winked at him and scurried off towards Sasuke and Tenten.

Neji was walking home when he noticed Naruto crouched in a tree. The blond ninja was obviously watching something so Neji followed his gaze and saw the two on the bench. He frowned. _What is he up to now?_

Naruto didn't budge from his perch when Neji landed behind him on the branch. He simply turned a little bit and shushed him.

Neji glared. "What do you think you are doing?"

Naruto sighed a little and rolled his eyes. "Spying on them, obviously."

Neji was growing impatient. "Why?"

"Sakura told me Sasuke apologized. I wanna know if she forgave him. Now, shoosh!" Naruto whispered sharply.

Neji's frown increased but he remained silent. Truthfully, he was curious about the situation in its entirety.

The chipmunk clone sat down next to one of the legs of the bench and listened.

"It's only one day a week," Tenten said excitedly, "but I still get to learn katana techniques from my idol!"

Sasuke cocked his head to one side. "I'm happy for you, but don't you already know how to use a sword?"

"A little, but I've mostly focused my training on throwing weapons, bos and nunchucks," Tenten replied, gesturing to demonstrate the movement of each weapon.

"Oh."

"I wish I could've seen your new combo jutsu with Naruto. Sakura said it was amazing!"

The blush on Sasuke's face was barely noticeable. "Well, it still needs a little refining," he said, looking down a bit and scratching the side of his cheek.

Neji frowned as he watched the exchange. He didn't like the situation one bit.

Sasuke stopped in the middle of a sentence and looked down. That chipmunk had been there an awfully long time and hadn't been spooked by any of Tenten's excited outbursts. He frowned in thought.

Tenten, curious as to what her friend was staring at, looked down. "Aww. It's so cute!" she crooned.

Suddenly Sasuke stomped down on the chipmunk. Tenten's eyes widened in horror. "Sasuke!" But her outrage was interrupted by a familiar sound and a small puff of smoke.

Sasuke smirked in satisfaction. "I thought so." He began looking around. "Naruto, come out! I know that chipmunk was yours!"

"Crap!" Naruto hissed. He jumped off the tree and darted away into the forest.

Neji was still curious about what had gone on and followed.

* * *

Naruto came to a stop after running for about ten minutes. "Whew! That was too close."

Neji frowned. "So what were they talking about?" he asked in the most casual voice he could muster.

"Not much. Just that Tenten's gonna train with my mom and some boring stuff. He should just tell her he likes her and get it over with. He's such a wuss," Naruto replied with a smirk.

Neji looked at him with wide eyes. "Sasuke likes Tenten? Does she have feelings for him as well?"

Naruto looked confused for a second at the oddness of the question but it didn't last long. "Dunno. Probably," he said with a shrug.

Neji's frown returned. "I have to go. I'll see you later." And with that, he walked away.

Now Naruto frowned. "What the...?"

* * *

Naruto arrived at the Hyuuga complex and was met by Hinata at the front gate. He kissed her and stood straight again. "Sorry I'm late, Hina-chan. I got distracted," he said with a sheepish smile.

"That's okay, Naruto-kun. I wasn't waiting long," Hinata said with a smile.

Naruto followed her into the complex, wondering what exactly he'd be learning. He wasn't the best at manners, but since he had to learn it to be Hokage he was going to do his best.

Hinata walked into the dining room. "We'll practice in here. Father assured me we won't be interrupted." She sat down on one of the soft pillows on the floor and Naruto followed suit.

"So what's first?" Naruto asked cheerfully.

* * *

Neji felt sick to his stomach as he watched Sasuke smile and wave to Tenten before walking away from her house. As soon as he was sure Sasuke was out of sight he walked over to Tenten, who was in the process of retrieving the mail.

Tenten looked up and smiled when she saw Neji. "Yo, Neji-kun," she said cheerfully.

Neji managed to smile slightly through the emotions boiling just under the surface of his skin. "Tenten-san. I need to speak to you in private."

Tenten's smile dropped a bit. "Is something wrong?" she asked as she came down from the short set of stairs connected to the front of her house.

"I'm not sure," Neji admitted.

Tenten frowned. "We can talk in the backyard." She began walking. "Come on."

Neji nodded and followed her.

* * *

As Sasuke got further away from Tenten's house he began to get a nagging feeling he was forgetting something. _Crap. My mission report._ And with that thought he turned and headed back the way he'd come from.

* * *

Tenten and Neji stood on one side of her backyard, under a large tree. "So, what's up?" Tenten asked.

Neji took a long breath. "I need to talk to you about Sasuke."

Tenten's expression became confused. "About Sasuke-kun?

"What are your intentions toward him?" Neji asked seriously.

Tenten blinked rapidly. "My intentions?"

Neji sighed. "Do you look at him in a...romantic fashion?"

Tenten's eyes widened and settled back down. A faint blush crept across her cheeks. "Well, I don't know. Maybe...a little. But..." She turned away from Neji.

"But?" Neji urged her on.

Tenten folded her arms and sighed heavily. "I don't think he likes me that way. He's not someone who really wants that kind of relationship with anyone," she said sadly.

Neji, feeling hope well up inside of him, put his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her around. "Then...would you consider me?"

Tenten's face shot upwards and she looked at him with disbelief. "You?"

"I...I've cared for you for a long time and was waiting for the right time to say something. But...when I saw you with Sasuke this afternoon I...I thought I might have lost my chance." Neji looked into Tenten's eyes, trying to gauge her reaction to what he was saying. "I didn't want that to happen so I came here to tell you...I love you." Without another word he pressed his lips to hers.

Due to the combination of suddenly being told she was loved by Neji and, just as suddenly, being kissed by him, all she could do was just stand there with her eyes wide and her body frozen in shock. That was when Sasuke entered the yard.

As the sight of Tenten being kissed by Neji an unknown fury built up inside Uchiha Sasuke. Having never experienced such an emotion put him at a loss as to what he was supposed to do with it so he acted on the first thought that popped up through the angry haze clouding his mind—he ran to Neji, pulled him away from Tenten and punched him in the face, sending him falling to the ground. He stood in the final pose left after he'd punched Neji, breathing heavily through his teeth and shaking with anger.

Tenten's stunned state had increased for a moment but she quickly regained control of her faculties. "What the hell is going on here?!"

Neji wiped the blood from his nose and slowly stood up. "I would like to know also," he said in a dangerous tone.

Tenten rounded on him, eyes blazing. "You shut up! You're not innocent here either!"

Neji looked confused. "I don't understand. What did I do wrong?"

"You kissed me without even asking me if I liked you first!" Tenten retorted angrily. She turned to Sasuke. "And YOU! What the hell did you punch him for?!"

At that moment Sasuke seemed to wake from the rage that had spurred his actions. He looked at his closed fist in confusion and mild panic. "I..." In a flash of realization he knew exactly why he had done it...and it terrified him. He did the only thing he could think of—he ran.

"SASUKE!" Tenten called after him. She sighed in frustration and turned back to Neji, who looked like a kicked puppy. She felt terrible. The idea of breaking the heart of one of her oldest friends made her want to cry, but there was no way to change this. "Neji, I'm sorry. I just don't feel that way about you. I used to have a crush on you, but that was a couple of years ago."

Neji squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head to one side. "I understand. I...I'm sorry for kissing you."

"I know why you did, so I forgive you," Tenten replied, her eyes misting over a bit.

Neji wanted to tear his heart out of his chest, but he knew it would be a futile gesture because every part of his body ached with the pain of being rejected by the girl he loved. "I...hope you won't find this rude, but I need to leave now," he said quietly.

Tenten nodded. "I understand." As Neji reached the edge of the yard she called to him. "Neji-kun? Please don't stop being my friend," she pleaded as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Neji didn't turn around, but he did stop for a moment to give her a reassuring nod before disappearing around the edge of the fence.

Tenten didn't know what to do. She wanted to go after Sasuke and talk to him about what had happened, but she also desperately wanted to curl into a ball and wish this all away. She chose the second option and half sat, half fell to the soft grass, buried her face in her arms and prayed things would be easier in the morning.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Good grief. This "month between chapters" thing has got to stop. I just had the WORST writers block. If I hadn't been listening to "Collide" a couple days ago it might have taken even longer. ((Sweatdrop))

What's funny is I said I wanted to take SasuTen super slow and then Morgan pulls this. I'm not sure if things r gonna get resolved right away though. We'll see what Morgan's mood is when I write chapter 30. Lol.

I've noticed recently that my hits per chapter have dropped from nearly 4500 to just over 2000. Am I doing something wrong? Is it the long update times? I hope to publish a book in the near future and I need to curb any bad writing habits quickly.

Added some more stuff to the Deviant art gallery.

Next chapter sooner. I actually have ideas for the first time in a few months.

Ja na,  
Song


	30. Turning Corners

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 30

* * *

Tenten's stomach felt sick as she walked through the dimly lit streets. She wanted to go home, crawl under the covers and forget that night ever happened, but something pushed her to continue her search. She just couldn't rest until she made sure things would be okay.

"Hey, Tenten. You looking for my idiot brother?" Naruto said as he stepped out from under the fabric entry way of Ichiraku.

Tenten was surprised by the question. How did he know? "Yeah," she answered wearily.

"I saw him run by here about fifteen minutes ago. I figured since you look upset you were probably looking for him."

Tenten managed a barely perceptible smile. "Thanks, Naruto." She gave a quick, mild bow and ran off in the direction Naruto had indicated.

Naruto watched her go for a moment. _Good luck, Tenten._

* * *

Sasuke paced in front of the pond, the grass underneath his feet becoming increasingly flat. _What have I done?! Our friendship just got back on its feet and now this!_ He kicked a rock into the water and slumped down on the ground as he watched the ripples stretch out from the point of impact.

He laced his fingers into his hair and used it as a brace for gripping his head in frustration. "I'm not ready for this," he said through gritted teeth.

"Sasuke-kun?"

The tightness in Sasuke's chest increased when he recognized Tenten's voice. "Please go away," he asked softly without looking at her.

"I was going to—I was gonna just sit on my lawn all night, but these feelings I have wouldn't let me. I have to know." Tenten took a tentative step forward. "What happened back there?

"I can't deal with this right now, Tenten," Sasuke said tersely.

Tenten felt a little anger crop up. "You can't just punch Neji for no reason and then not explain yourself!"

Sasuke stood up quickly and turned to face her. "LOOK! I don't know the answer either, so just go HOME!" he said, jabbing a finger in the general direction of Tenten's house.

Tenten couldn't explain why, but she knew he was lying. Not only that, but he was desperate for her to not find out the truth. "Not until you tell me why you punched Neji!" she repeated, her voice rising in pitch.

The panic growing in his mind over the idea that he might have to explain himself evoked a 'fight or flight' response in Sasuke. Unfortunately, his subconscious chose 'fight'. "Damn it, Tenten! Stop being such a pain in the ass!" he raged. But the instant the words came out of his mouth he knew he'd made a _huge_ mistake. The look on her face was a mixture of shock and pain. Tears welled up in her eyes and his heart sank. "Tenten...I..." he said, reaching out a hand toward her shoulder.

Tenten's lower lip quivered a bit as she pressed her mouth closed. Even though tears had begun to make their way down her cheeks her expression was angry. She sniffed loudly. "FINE! You won't have to worry about it anymore because you'll never see me AGAIN!!" She turned on her heel and began to march stiffly away.

Sasuke's hands balled into frustrated fists. He didn't want to say it, but he also didn't want to lose her friendship again. "I WAS JEALOUS!"

Tenten stopped dead in her tracks. Had she really heard that? Her feet seemed cemented in place, not allowing her to keep marching or to go back to Sasuke.

He was waiting for a response, _any_ kind of response. Sasuke's stomach was churning so badly that he almost didn't care if she just continued walking. At least then the wait would be over and he would be out of agony.

Finally, Tenten slowly turned around. "What?" she asked softly and in disbelief.

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut, as if replying to her question was painful. "I was...jealous. But I didn't know it, till you asked me why I hit him. It was complete impulse. I...I had no control."

Tenten walked closer to him slowly, carefully, and looked him in the eyes. "Do you mean that?"

Sasuke stared at her. "Yeah." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I started to see you that way...during the wedding. That's why..." He sighed. "That's why I avoided you for so long. Because as long as Itachi was alive being involved with anyone was a bad idea. I...I didn't want you to get hurt." Explaining everything was getting easier, as if it had lifted a weight from his chest.

Tenten stood perfectly still for a moment. Truthfully, this was what she was hoping was the reason for Neji getting punched, and to hear it be a reality stunned her. "And...now?" she asked hopefully.

A soft wind blew Sasuke's hair around a bit. "I...I don't know. I'm...confused. I wasn't looking for this," he nearly whispered.

Tenten swallowed. "I wasn't either. I mean, I always thought you were handsome, but I didn't plan to start...liking you."

Sasuke's eyes widened for a second as the implication of what she had said sank in. He sighed heavily. "Me either."

Tenten's expression became apologetic. "I...gotta get back. I was supposed to have dinner half an hour ago."

Sasuke nodded. "See you tomorrow then?"

Tenten nodded as well and shot upwards into the trees.

Sasuke stood in silence for a bit and then started walking home. He could have taken the high route like Tenten but decided that walking would allow him to think about the nights events more easily.

The wind rustled through the trees, eventually tousling the golden locks of a hidden witness to the scene below. Naruto smiled warmly from his perch high in the trees and silently leapt away.

* * *

The next day Tsunade walked toward the Hokage tower with a rather large man at her side. He wore an ornate kimono, had a full beard and his hair was in a topknot. The gold pin that held his hair in place glinted in the early evening sun.

"So, Daimyo-sama. You still haven't told me why you've decided to grace us with your presence," Tsunade said pleasantly with a warm smile.

The Daimyo smiled. "I came to see how your resident jinchuuriki is doing."

Tsunade's smiled faltered a bit. "Is something wrong?"

"No no. But I've heard from various sources of his marvelous new chakra and wanted to see it for myself," The Daimyo replied cheerfully.

Tsunade relaxed a little. "Oh. But you do know he's no longer a jinchuuriki, correct?"

The Daimyo winced slightly. "My apologies. It was a slip of the tongue."

Tsunade's smile returned. "No problem." She looked up at the clock on the tower. "It's almost five, so he's most likely still working."

"He's on a mission?" The Daimyo asked as he let himself into the building.

"No. He's doing paperwork in my office."

They began to climb the stairs. "Paperwork? You mean _your_ paperwork?"

"Mmhm," Tsunade chirped in a sing-song manner. She noticed his look of concern. "Don't worry. He's not doing any of the important papers, only deciding the rank D missions."

As they reached the reception area the Daimyo frowned. "Tsunade-sama, I do not think it appropriate to allow your son to do any part of your Hokage duties."

Nabiki looked up from her writing and smile. "Konbonwa, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade held up a finger. "My apologies, Daimyo-sama, I'll be just a moment." She turned to the chuunin at the desk. "Konbonwa, Nabiki. Any messages for me?"

Nabiki shook her head. "Nope. It's been pretty quiet."

"Daimyo-sama, this is Tsukino Nabiki. She's one of our chuunins," Tsunade explained.

The Daimyo inclined his head. "A pleasure to meet you, Tsukino-san."

"A p-pleasure to meet you as well, Daimyo-sama," Nabiki said with a low bow.

Tsunade smiled. "This way please, Daimyo-sama."

"A moment, Tsunade-sama. You have not responded to what I said," the Daimyo said. "I want to know why your son is doing your work."

Tsunade sighed. Apparently her diversionary introduction had not worked. "I am training him in the duties of a Hokage."

The Daimyo instantly looked concerned. "I was not informed you had chosen a sucessor. Do the elders know of this?"

"It's not really that I've officially chosen him yet. But I do think he has the potential and although he's very strong, he needs to learn that it's a hard job off the battlefield as well."

"Yes, that's true. However, if you wish to continue this 'training' then you will inform the elders immediately. I am also concerned that you may wish to mold him into Hokage material simply because he is your son."

Tsunade shook her head. "Of course not, Daimyo-sama. I would never be that irresponsible with the future of the village." She paused for a moment in case he wanted to say something. "Let's go meet him. I'm certain once you know him you will see why I think he's right for the job," she insisted with a hopeful smile.

The Daimyo sighed. "Alright."

Tsunade opened the door and was relieved to see Naruto still hard at work.

Naruto looked up from the small stack of papers he had left to go through. "Yo, Kaa-san," he said with a smile.

The Daimyo cocked an eyebrow at Naruto's casual demeanor.

"Naruto, this is the Daimyo of the Fire Country. He's come to meet you," Tsunade said while giving her son a look that she hoped said "for the love of _God_ mind your manners'.

Naruto's eyes widened and he immediately got to his feet and bowed as low as humanly possible. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Daimyo-sama."

Tsunade's eyes widened considerably. Wow. Those lessons with Hinata are really paying off.

The Daimyo's expression became extremely plesant and he bowed in kind. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Uzumaki-san."

"Arigato, Daimyo-sama. And if it pleases you, you may call me, Naruto," Naruto said as he rose from his bow.

"I thank you for the gesture, Naruto-kun," the Daimyo replied.

Tsunade moved a soft office chair nearer to her desk. "Please, have a seat, Daimyo-sama," she offered, waiving her hand at the chair.

"Arigato, Tsunade-sama," the Daimyo replied cordially as he took his seat.

Tsunade moved to her chair behind her desk and Naruto sat in a small wooden chair next to her.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Daimyo-sama—Why is Ganshou under mayoral leadership? I thought you ruled the capitol city directly." Tsunade said.

The Daimyo chuckled. _She's certainly as bold as ever._ "You're not the only one guilty of giving some of your work to a subordinate. It gives me more time to deal with the larger concerns that come my way. It is also an experiment of sorts."

"An experiment?" Naruto asked.

"Indeed. I've heard of several practices from western countries and was curious to see them up close. So far it seems to be working well and I haven't given up any of my power. He is, after all, under my command," the Daimyo said with a smirk.

Naruto decided he liked this person. He could tell the Daimyo had a mischievous streak.

"So, Naruto-kun, tell me about this marvelous new chakra of yours," the Daimyo requested cheerfully.

Naruto looked at his mother. She nodded so he answered the request. "It's the combination of chakra from all the major chakra groups. It was forcefully given to me by Orochimaru. I have been working on learning to use it well, but sometimes it's difficult to control."

The Daimyo nodded in understanding. "May I see it?"

Naruto gave a quick bow. "Of course, Daimyo-sama." He molded chakra to a relatively safe level for indoors.

The Daimyo stared in awe. "Amazing," he commented. "You may stop now." He turned to Tsunade. "What is his raw power level?"

Tsunade sighed. "Truthfully?" She looked at her son. "He has the most powerful chakra I've ever seen. Of course, learning to use it to the full extent of that power has proven to be quite a challenge."

The Daimyo curled his hand to his chin in thought. "How exactly did Orochimaru give him this new chakra?"

Tsunade could practically see the wheels spinning in the Daimyo's head. "Daimyo-sama, the niji chakra should not be created again...ever."

The Daimyo looked surprised. He hadn't expected her to know what he was thinking. "Tsunade-sama, think about what this could mean for the Fire Country. If all of our shinobi had that kind of power we would never again need fear attack from other villages," he said with some excitement to his voice.

"It would also mean the deaths of hundreds of summon animals," Tsunade said gravely.

The Daimyo was taken aback. "Come again?"

Tsunade closed her eyes and looked down, as if to give respect for the fallen. "The only way to give someone niji chakra, is to completely drain the chakra from one of each of the summon animal groups. It kills them and, according to Naruto, they suffer terrible pain during the process."

The Daimyo's expression became ashamed. "I had no idea," he said quietly. "Please forgive me, Tsunade-sama," he requested with a bow.

"It's alright. I actually anticipated someone would want to duplicate the niji chakra so I wasn't really surprised," Tsunade said with a light chuckle.

"Yes, I suppose it _was_ inevitable."

"Besides," Tsunade said. "There's always a chance it could pass down to his children as a kekkai genkai."

The Daimyo seemed to find this idea satisfying. He then got an amused look on his face. "So, are there any good candidates for his future spouse?"

Tsunade giggled, instantly understanding the Daimyo's game. "Actually, he already has a girlfriend."

Naruto just sat there, his mouth hanging open with an incredulous look on his face.

"Well then I trust you to make sure they are married as soon as they are legal," the Daimyo said, trying his best not to burst out laughing—Quite the feat, considering the look on Naruto's face was most comical.

"Nani?!" Naruto said, his eyes wide and his voice full of panic.

Tsunade and the Daimyo chuckled. "Calm down, brat. We were kidding," Tsunade explained.

Naruto shot his mother a withering glare.

The Daimyo smiled. "My apologies, Naruto-kun, but may I speak to your mother alone for a moment?"

Naruto frowned but managed to call on Hinata's teachings. He stood and bowed. "Of course, Daimyo-sama." He then left the room without a word.

"He's certainly not what I expected considering the stories I've heard," The Daimyo commented once the door had shut.

Tsunade smiled. "Well, he's been receiving training in more than just paperwork," she said with a laugh.

"Quite an interesting young man." The Daimyo cleared his throat. "I have decided I will base my decision on his performance in the chuunin exams. If he receives the rank of chuunin I will allow you to continue his training. If not, then I would like you to begin looking at other candidates—Hatake Kakashi, for instance."

Tsunade frowned a bit but nodded anyway. "Will you be at the exams then?"

"Hai. I've missed it too many years in a row. Not to mention that I'm curious to see the only holder of niji chakra in action," the Daimyo replied with a smile.

"Would you like a tour of Konoha?"

The Daimyo shook his head. "Unfortunately not today. I have too much work."

Tsunade laughed. "I know the feeling."

The Daimyo rose from his seat. "Well then, I will see you October first," he said with a short bow.

Tsunade bowed in kind. "I look forward to it."

* * *

Naruto sat alone on the dragon fountain in the Namikaze complex. Ever since the conversation with the Daimyo an hour ago he'd been having trouble getting the screams of the summon animals who died for his new chakra out of his head. During the process of cleaning out the complex he and Sasuke had gotten the fountain working. It bubbled along merrily, unaware of the anguish of the boy who sat on its edge.

The loudest scream in his head was, of course, that of Gamakichi. He wished so badly that he could have saved the young frog. They hadn't always gotten along, but he had considered him a friend. Naruto sensed a familiar chakra approaching. "Hey, Tomoyo-san."

"Hey, Naruto-kun," Tomoyo said as she sat down. She cocked her head to one side. "Something wrong?"

Naruto sighed. "Just...old regrets."

Tomoyo seemed to understand and didn't carry the matter further. She held up a leather bound book . "I brought the pictures from me and Kakashi-kun's honeymoon. Wanna see?"

Naruto smiled a little. "Okay. But only the parts that won't scar me for life."

Tomoyo giggled and opened the book to the first page.

* * *

Chouji and Ino sat in Tsunade's office, waiting for her to finish pulling a file from her cabinet. She retook her seat and opened the manila folder. "Seeing as how your team is a man short for the chuunin exams I've decided to supplement said team with a genin from Suna. Her team mates have also been promoted so the timing is perfect."

"Who is she?" Ino asked.

"Her name is Yoshida Nao. She fought along side us when Suna was attacked. I think she'll make a good addition to your team," Tsunade answered.

Tsunade handed Ino the folder. Ino opened it to see a smiling girl with forest green hair and brown eyes. "She looks familiar, but I can't place her."

"Well you'll have plenty of time to remember—She'll be arriving tomorrow evening," Tsunade said with a smile.

"Why is she coming here?" Chouji asked.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Obviously so we can have time to practice with her. Baka," she said as she smacked Chouji's shoulder.

"She should be at the gates around six pm. Don't be late," Tsunade instructed.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," Ino replied. She and Chouji then left the room.

* * *

Naruto stood up from looking at Tomoyo's photo album and yawned. "It's getting kinda late. I need to get something to eat," he said as stretched his arms above his head.

"No problem," Tomoyo answered. "Kakashi-kun rented us a movie to watch tonight," she said with a dreamy smile.

Naruto looked a little green. "I don't wanna know," he said. "Hey, I was wondering if you were busy Saturday."

Tomoyo thought for a moment. "Not unless I get a mission between now and then. Why?"

"I wanna finish this place up. For some reason it just really bugs me seeing it still so...broken," Naruto explained as his gaze moved around the complex.

Tomoyo smiled. "No problem. And I'll make sure Kakashi-kun goes too."

"Thanks, Tomoyo-san!" Naruto said happily.

"Anything for my little cousin," Tomoyo replied with a hug.

Naruto waved to Tomoyo as she walked away. "Ja!" He then headed for home.

* * *

Yoshida Nao lay on her back in her sleeping back with her arms folded under her head. Her sensei snored loudly a few feet away as she stared at the occasionally blinking stars overhead. "I can't wait to see Kiba again." She smiled widely, then rolled over and tried to get some sleep.

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Woot! A chapter out in under two weeks! Hope you guys liked this one. Things will pick up a bit next chappy. :)


	31. Asuma's Reason

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 31

* * *

Sasuke lazily swirled the coffee in his cup around in a circle. He'd been dragging his feet all morning in fact. He was happy everything with Tenten was out in the open, but now he didn't really know how to continue. This was new territory for him and it made him uneasy. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Yeah?"

Naruto's voice came from the other side of the door. "Come on, Teme! _Kakashi_ was at the training field before you!"

Sasuke glanced up at the microwave clock. "Crap!" He guzzled what was left of his coffee, grabbed his equipment pouch and threw open the door. "Why the hell didn't you come get me sooner?!" he scolded Naruto as he ran past.

Naruto frowned. "When the hell did I become your keeper?!" He ran after his brother. "OI! Wait up, Teme!"

* * *

Kakashi and Sakura met Naruto and Sasuke half way. Kakashi had on an odd smile that had taken team seven a while to get used to now that the mask was gone. "Hey guys, the Hokage wants to see us."

Team seven walked into the office to find Ino and Chouji already standing in front of Tsunade's desk. Tsunade took notice of the new arrivals. "Ah, you're here. Good." She interlaced her fingers and rested her chin on them. "We have a problem. A replacement is supposed to be coming for the open slot on team ten but I just received a report stating that they never reached the village they were supposed to be buying supplies at this morning. I need you five to go look for them."

"What about Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Asuma is...busy." She held up her hand to stop any further questions. "I really can't say any more than that at this point. The matter is private."

Ino and Chouji exchanged looks but kept silent.

"You'll be leaving immediately," Tsunade said, handing Kakashi a sheet of paper. "This has any instructions you'll need. Dismissed."

An affirmative shout sounded from the group and they vanished from sight.

* * *

As they ran out from the gates Naruto's mind, oddly enough, wasn't on the mission. He kept thinking about what Tsunade had said the day before. _"There's always a chance it could pass down to his children as a kekkai genkai." _He sighed. _Could it be possible?_

Ino noticed Naruto was spacing out. "Hey, Naruto. You okay?"

Naruto decided to ignore the fact that Ino asking about his welfare was very odd. "Yeah, just thinking about stuff."

Ino shrugged and continued leaping through the trees.

Suddenly they heard an out of breath voice calling out to them.

"Wait!"

Naruto turned around to find Hinata leaping at full speed towards them. "Hina-chan?"

The group stopped and let the Hyuuga heiress catch up.

"Tsunade-sama told me to go with you so you had a team member with byakugan," Hinata explained between breaths.

Kakashi looked suspicious. "Why weren't you at the meeting then?"

"I was waiting for her for something else. When she came out of the office after you left she said it would be a good idea if I went with you."

Kakashi sighed. _Why can't Tsunade think of these things all at once?_ He cleared his throat. "Alright. Let's get going then."

Hinata nodded and they set off in the direction of their intended location.

* * *

"Anything yet, Hina-chan?" Naruto asked.

Hinata frowned. "No," she replied dismally. Suddenly her eyes widened and she pointed north west. "There!"

The team sped off in the direction indicated and when they were finally within the range of normal vision they looked to see a stretch of road underneath a high cliff. A section of the cliff had fallen away and lay in a pile of rubble.

Ino's eyes went wide. "Are they under that mess, Hinata?"

Hinata nodded somberly and the team's collective spirits sank when they realized they were probably already too late. They landed next to the pile of huge rocks. It covered at least eighty percent of the passage width-wise and continued down the length of it for nearly two hundred feet.

_They didn't have any time to escape,_ Kakashi thought sadly. "Hinata, where exactly are they?"

Hinata pointed at a spot to her right. "Here—about eight feet in and...near the bottom," she said with a wince. "It looks like they're alive but one of them won't be for very long. His chakra system is starting to fail."

Kakashi looked around the scene for a starting point to dig from. He needed to make sure that their actions would not cause the rocks to crush anyone who might have survived. Once he had picked a suitable spot he turned to Chouji. "Chouji, we need your Baika no Jutsu to move the rocks. Naruto, can you summon Kazehana?"

Naruto nodded and poked his thumb with his summoning ring. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A large puff of smoke later Kazehana stood before the group, yawning and looking around in confusion. There didn't seem to be a battle going on. "What's going on?"

Naruto spoke up as Chouji activated his jutsu. "We need you to help us move these rocks. There's some people trapped under there."

Kazehana's eyebrows went up. "Of course," she quickly answered.

"Start here, you two," Kakashi said, referring to Kazehana and Chouji.

As they moved the largest rocks the rest of the team busied themselves with the smaller ones and Hinata kept an enhanced eye on the life signs of the people they were trying to free.

* * *

Nao was starting to lose her battle with the rocks above her head. She had managed hold off getting crushed temporarily by making a dome of rock with an earth jutsu, but she wasn't very good at it yet and the weight of the ceiling was quickly exhausting her chakra reserves.

She heard what sounded like voices outside her prison and looked down with hope at her sensei, whose head was bleeding quite profusely. "Oh God, please don't let me be hallucinating."

* * *

After a few minutes of digging Kazehana pulled a rock away to reveal something that made her stop. "Naruto-kun, the rock is different here. It's locked together. I think it's a jutsu!"

"Alright everyone," Kakashi commanded. "Concentrate your efforts here!" He pointed to the area Kazehana had indicated and the team went straight to work.

It wasn't long before the area was clear enough that the pair they were trying to save would be safe without the dome. "That should do it," Kakashi commented. "If the ones in the rock can hear me—you can release the jutsu. It's safe now!" he shouted to the dome.

After a few seconds the dome receded back into the ground, revealing a man on the ground who was badly hurt and a girl who had dropped to her knees from exhaustion, arms hanging limply by her sides. Sakura went to work on the man immediately.

"He'll be okay. He has a concussion and a decent sized gash but it's nothing I can't fix," she reported with a smile.

Kakashi nodded toward Nao. "And what about her?"

Nao shook her head when Sakura tried to check her over. "I'm fine. Just...just tired...is all," she said in-between breaths.

Kakashi smiled. "It's good to see that you're alright. The Hokage was rather concerned when you never arrived at the supply point."

"I don't know what happened. That cliff should have been safe," Nao said as she got into a more comfortable sitting position.

Sakura looked up from her work to examine the place where the rocks had fallen from. After a moment she nodded in affirmation. "See that red colored rock along the new edge?" she said, pointing to what she what she was talking about. "It's sandstone, which is very fragile. We've had heavy rains the last of couple nights. It must've weakened it just enough to break away."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Well, we should get them back to the village."

"Nao, can you walk?" Sasuke asked.

Nao slowly got up, carefully testing her footing as she did so. "Yeah...but I'll be slow as hell."

Naruto chuckled and turned away from Nao. "Come on," he said, nodding towards his back, "I'll carry you."

Hinata knew Naruto was true to her, but she couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy towards Nao. She chewed the inside of her cheek a bit, willing herself to stay quiet. Ino, however, made no attempt to hide the expression she had on her face which clearly said that she thought Hinata should be pissed.

Nao cocked an uncertain eyebrow but walked over to him. "Thanks," she said with an embarrassed blush as she climbed onto Naruto's back.

Naruto smiled. "No problem."

Kakashi looked over at Kazehana as they began to walk. "It might be a good idea for you to change into human form if you're coming back tot the village with us. You'd cause a bit of a ruckus."

Naruto's eyes widened when he realized he'd forgotten to bring along some clothes for the female dragon.

Kazehana glanced at Naruto, saw the look of trepidation on his face and decided to save him the embarrassment. "That's okay. I was kind of summoned in the middle of a nap anyway," she replied with a sheepish smile. Kakashi chuckled and Naruto visibly relaxed. She held up a clawed hand. "Ja."

* * *

Naruto and Hinata sat in the hospital waiting room with Sakura, Nao, Ino and Chouji. They were waiting to hear the status of Nao's sensei. Hinata turned to Naruto, her heart beating just a little quicker than normal. "Neh, Naruto-kun?" she asked softly.

"Hm?" Naruto replied with a smile.

Hinata couldn't help it—Her fingers tapped together in that familiar tent formation from her old habit. "Ano...carrying Nao...that... that didn't mean anything...right?" She knew the answer. She really really did, but she was still learning to not be so insecure.

Naruto frowned. "Of course not. How could you think that?"

Hinata suddenly looked ashamed of herself. How _could_ she have thought such a thing? "I...I don't know. I guess I...Sometimes I worry that you'll find s-someone prettier than me and...." The tears that had wet her eyes now began to leak out from the corners and she looked down at her feet. A gentle hand lifted up her chin and she found herself staring into Naruto's eyes. She was surprised by the intensity she saw in his gaze.

He spoke slowly, making sure every word carried weight. "There is _no_ girl prettier than the one I love." He moved his hands to cup her face. "You got that?"

Hinata's lip quivered and she nodded, a meek smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Please don't doubt me again," Naruto asked with pain in his eyes. It wasn't just that Hinata had said what she did that made his heart heavy—It was also that he was worried he hadn't been doing enough to assure her of his loyalty.

Hinata quickly shook her head. "I won't." She hugged him. "I promise."

Suddenly a nurse burst through the double doors of the emergency room. "Sakura-san, we need your help with the Suna shinobi!"

Sakura jumped up from her seat. "Hai!"

As the others watched Sakura and the nurse disappeared back through the double doors. All eyes drifted to Nao, who now looked very worried.

"Are you guys close?" Naruto asked, hoping to distract her from her thoughts.

Nao let out a worried sigh. "Well...we're not extremely close, but he's a great sensei...and he's my friend," she said with a trembling voice.

"He'll be okay," Naruto said with a reassuring smile. "Sakura said it wasn't that bad."

"Then why'd they just call her in to help?" Nao asked.

Naruto frowned. "I don't know."

After several minutes Sakura came back through the door with a smile on her face. "He's okay." She paused as everyone exhaled in relief. "There was some swelling around his brain. It took both of us but the doctor and I managed to use chakra to repair the damage."

"When can I see him?" Nao asked with a grateful expression.

"He should wake up in a couple of days," Sakura replied. She noticed Nao's dejected look and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you did everything you could. If it weren't for your jutsu you'd both be dead right now," she said with an approving smile.

Nao nodded.

"Why don't we take you to Tsunade-sama, then we'll get you settled?" Kakashi offered.

Nao smiled. "Okay."

* * *

Tsunade smiled. "I'm glad to see you made it. I was a little worried."

Nao bowed. "Arigato, Tsunade-sama."

Sakura stepped forward a bit. "Her sensei will make a full recovery. "

Tsunade's smile widened with pride in her student. "Good work, Sakura."

Sakura smiled in return. "Arigato, Shishou."

"Well, I think formal introductions are moot at this point, so Ino and Chouji should just show Nao around Konoha," Tsunade said.

Ino bowed. "Hai. Please excuse us then, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade smiled and nodded.

Ino turned to Nao. "So," she said. "What do you wanna see first?"

Nao blushed a bit. "Do you know where Inuzuka Kiba lives?"

Ino looked both confused and surprised. "Kiba?"

* * *

"How do you know Kiba?" Ino asked as they stepped out of the Hokage tower.

"I helped him when Akatsuki attacked my village. And then later he brought me a flower when he visited me in the hospital," Nao answered with a little embarrassment.

Ino instantly had feral smile on her face. "Oh really?"

Nao suddenly looked nervous, realizing she may have divulged this information to the wrong person. She waved her hands in front of her face. "I'm sure it didn't mean anything!"

Ino giggled. "Boys don't bring flowers to a girl they just met unless it means something."

The gears in Nao's head began turning, but she still protested. "He was just saying thank you."

Ino sighed and shook her head as she placed a hand on Nao's shoulder. "You poor poor naive girl.

* * *

Ino, Chouji and Nao stood on the road near Kiba's home. "Ino-san, I really don't think this is a good idea," Nao insisted.

"You like him, don't you?" Ino asked.

"Hai, but I'm not in love with him or anything," Nao quickly replied.

Chouji just stood off to one side and said nothing. He knew trying to stop Ino when she was on a match-making mission was hopeless.

"Trust me. You'll thank me for this later," Ino said.

Nao looked suspicious. "Thank you for what?"

Ino's hands flashed through the seals for her signature jutsu and Chouji's eyes widened. "Ino, wait!"

He was too late, however as Ino's body had already fallen to the ground. He caught her and propped her up against the tree. Ino in Nao's body smiled an Chouji glared at her. "This isn't right, Ino."

Ino rolled Nao's eyes. "It's fine. I'll just get them started and then Nao can take it from there," she said with a smile.

Chouji set his jaw. "Fine. I'm getting Asuma-sensei."

Ino's expression turned menacing. "You do that and I'll take you over someday when you're not expecting it and make you eat broccoli," she threatened, putting emphasis on the last word.

Chouji looked horrified for a moment, then his expression turned into one of angry submission. "Fine," he growled.

Ino looked over Nao's outfit, which was a simple pair of blue khakis, a white T-shirt with a daisy on the front and a green short-sleeved jacket that had hung open. "Not bad. But it could be cuter." She pulled on the sleeves so that the jacket came a little off Nao's shoulders and then pulled the bottom of the shirt a bit to show off Nao's navel.

Chouji just shook his head in disgust and opened a bag of chips.

Ino walked up to Kiba's door and rang the bell. Kiba opened the door and surprise showed on his face. "Nao-san? What are you doing here?"

Ino poured on the charm. "I couldn't stop thinking about you after you gave me that flower," she said in a shy school-girl way with a hint of seductiveness.

Kiba frowned a little, came outside and shut the door. "Umm...that was just a thank-you. If I gave you the wrong idea, I'm sorry."

Ino smiled coyly. "Are you sure about that?" she said as she traced along Kiba's jaw line with Nao's index finger.

Kiba's frown deepened and he pushed her hand away. "Yeah. And what's with you? Back in Suna you acted like ninja, now you're acting like some bubbly airhead like Yamanaka Ino."

Nao's eyes flashed with anger and she grabbed the front of his shirt in her fists. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Ino said, completely forgetting who she was supposed to be.

Kiba angrily pushed Ino away. "You know what?!--Now I remember why I can't stand most girls!" And with that he turned around, stomped into his house and shut the door in Ino's face.

Ino stood there like a stunned rabbit. She could hear Nao freaking out in the back of her mind and she felt very guilty about it. She immediately released the jutsu. Once she was back in her body she looked nervously at Nao, who looked as though she might start crying.

"Nao-san, I...I was only trying to help," Ino offered, although she knew she'd already done serious damage. "I'm sorry."

"Save it!" Nao snapped. "I'm going to ask Tsunade-sama if I can go home tomorrow. I can't be on a team with someone like you."

Ino looked at Chouji for help. Chouji just shook his head.

"This is your mess. You figure it out," he said. He then walked away.

"Nao-san. Wait. I can fix this!" Ino pleaded.

"How?!" Nao asked.

"Just wait here." Ino walked up to Kiba's house and rang the bell for a second time.

The door opened slower this time. "Yo, Ino" Kiba said when he saw who it was.

"Kiba...um...that wasn't Nao a minute ago. I took her over to try and get you two together," Ino said with a wince.

Kiba sighed and shook his head. "You've really gotta learn to stay out of other people's business," he said tersely.

"Sorry," Ino said quietly. "Nao's over there." She looked in Nao's direction. "Can she come talk to you?"

"Yeah. But I'd make myself scarce if I were you," Kiba said.

Ino nodded solemnly and walked away.

Kiba walked up to Nao. "Yo, Nao-san. Sorry about Ino. Sometimes she just doesn't know when to back off."

Nao smiled a little. "It's okay. I mean, I'm still mad at her, but I guess she was trying to help." She shrugged. "And she did fix it."

"So anyway, what are you doing in Konoha?"

Nao's smile widened. "I'm taking the chuunin exam."

"Aren't you kinda early?"

Nao giggled. "I was the only one from my Suna team who didn't make chuunin when I took the exams last time. I can't take them by myself and team ten had a slot open so Hokage-sama is letting me fill in for Shikamaru. I'm here to train with them before the exams start."

"Oh. Well, don't let Ino get to you. She's a pain in the ass sometimes, but I think you can handle it," Kiba said with a smile.

Nao suddenly remembered the 'changes' Ino had made to her wardrobe and hurriedly fixed it.

"Hey...you don't really think that flower meant anything...do you?" Kiba asked gently.

"No," Nao replied firmly. "I mean, you're kinda cute," she said with a little blush, "but not too many of the guys in my class treated me like anything but a girl. You're different, so I thought it'd be nice if we were friends."

Kiba grinned. "No problem. Want me to show you the village?"

"Hai," Nao replied and both teens walked off toward the center of town.

* * *

As Chouji walked down the road he noticed Asuma kissing Kurenai goodbye as he left her house. Once Kurenai had gone back into the house Chouji jogged to catch up to his sensei.

Asuma noticed his student and felt a bit nervous. He hoped he hadn't been seen a moment ago. "Y-yo, Chouji," he said, trying to act casual and doing a terrible job of it.

Chouji decided to see if he could ease into the topic and that way make Asuma less skittish. "Is everything okay?"

Asuma cleared his throat. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

Chouji scratched the back of his neck. "We were just a little worried since you couldn't come on the mission. Tsunade-sama wouldn't tell us why. She said it was personal."

Asuma let out a long sigh. "Well, I don't want you kids to worry about me, but it's not exactly something I can talk about without...a certain someone's permission."

Chouji frowned. "But you're okay right?"

There was something in Asuma's smile that seemed almost wistful. "Yeah, I'm fine." He chuckled at the odd look on Chouji's face. "I'll tell you all soon. I promise."

Chouji nodded. "Okay, but if you need us...."

"Of course."

* * *

"You're sure you two want to do it this way? I'm sure your relatives would be none too pleased," Tsunade warned.

Asuma nodded. "It would be worse if we told them beforehand."

Tsunade sighed.

"And besides. Both of us have no living parents and they're really the only ones we would want to be there."

"Alright, Asuma. Come see me about eleven tomorrow morning. We'll do it then," Tsunade said with a slight smile.

* * *

Asuma arrived at the training field the next day at noon on the dot, his face beaming. Ino noticed and cocked an eyebrow.

"So are you gonna tell us what's going on or should we guess?" she asked.

Asuma chuckled. "Alright, Ino. Well," He cleared his throat. "Kurenai-sensei and I got married and hour ago."

Ino and Chouji had been stunned into silence. Nao, however, didn't know that this would be a shock so she smiled widely. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks, Nao-san." Asuma turned to Ino and Chouji. "You can close your mouths now," he said with a laugh.

Ino and Chouji seemed to come out of their shock at the same time. "Gomen, Asuma-sensei," Ino said. A smile grew on her mouth. "That's wonderful! But we never heard about any wedding plans."

Asuma looked a little uncomfortable. "Well, that's where my other piece of news comes in. I couldn't really tell anyone until everything was official."

"What is it, Asuma-sensei?" Chouji asked.

"I um...." Asuma's smile became one of pure joy. "I'm going to be a father."

.........TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

I promise I won't leave you hanging with that for long. I've got some new ideas so the next chapter should be out soon. Thank you so much to the readers who stick with me despite my long times between chapters lately.

Oh, and the RPR is now the RPB Reader Proof Bunker. One of my readers (Who is now one of my beta readers) suggested it needed an upgrade. Lol.

Someone made a fanart of Tomoyo. :) You can find it in the COLAD gallery on deviant art.

Ja na,

Song


	32. On to Insei

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 32

* * *

Ino's squeal of delight deafened everyone. "When's the baby coming?" she asked excitedly.

Once Asuma was finished rubbing his ear he answered her. "In about eight months." He grinned as he looked his team over. "Which means you three need to give one hell of a performance at the chuunin exams so I can go out with a bang."

"Huh?" Chouji said.

"I'll be retiring as your sensei after the chuunin exams," Asuma said with a slightly smaller smile.

"What?!" Chouji and Ino said in unison. Nao stayed out of it since she didn't feel she'd been in the group long enough to warrant her a voice in the discussion.

"Why?!" Ino asked.

"I don't want my child to grow up without a father. I'm going to be teaching at the academy," Asuma explained.

"What about Kurenai-sensei?" Chouji asked.

Asuma chuckled. "I couldn't get her to give up missions entirely, but she and Tsunade-sama have agreed that she'll be restricted her to B-ranked missions until our child becomes a gennin." He let out a big, happy sigh and cracked his knuckles over his head. "Well, let's get started on your training. We don't have long before the exams."

* * *

"I'm so excited for you Kurenai-san!" Tomoyo said as she gave the unsuspecting woman a rib-crushing hug.

Kurenai winced for a moment at Tomoyo's brashness but she knew she was only happy for her so she put up with it. "Arigato," she said. "So, has Kakashi been treating you right? He's not still reading that disgusting book is he?"

Tomoyo got an impish grin on her face. "They're not so bad. I kinda like 'em myself."

Kurenai grimaced and her eye twitched. "You two are perfect for each other."

* * *

"If you send Naruto on a mission like that you'll never hear the end of it. You know that don't you?" Shizune warned.

Tsunade chuckled. "Hai hai. I know a C-ranked mission is a bit beneath team seven by this point but I think this will be good for Naruto. He needs to get some diplomacy missions under his belt."

Shizune looked skeptical but she bowed her head in respect anyway. "Hai, Tsunade-sama. I'll send for him."

* * *

"You'll be going to Insei city in the Wave country to speak with their Daimyo. It's a C-rank mission so...." Tsunade began.

"NANI?!" Naruto yelled.

Tsunade clamped her hands over her ears with a scowl. "If you want to be Hokage someday then you _will_ do this mission. The Hokage has to deal with foreign dignitaries on a regular basis."

Naruto was about to make a retort when he remembered what Gaara had said to him nearly a month before.

_(("If you want to achieve your dream, you just need to grow up a little. It shouldn't be too hard of a task...for the guy who saved my life," Gaara said with a smile.)) _

Naruto let out a long sigh through his nose. "Hai, Kaa-san."

Tsunade arched her eyebrows in surprise while everyone else in the room stared bug-eyed at Naruto. Her expression changed into an approving smile. "Good," she said. "Now, since Hinata is your diplomacy trainer she will be going with you and there have been reports of some of the city's children going missing so Gai-sensei's team will be researching that while you speak with the Daimyo. Naruto, it will be your job to negotiate a price for their export of salt to the Fire country. They've finally perfected their seawater separation process and since there isn't much in the way of salt mines in the Fire country or the Lightning country we have to make sure we give them the best offer." She handed Naruto a large manila envelope. "This contains more specific details along with a list of offers you are authorized to make on our behalf."

Naruto nodded as he took the envelope. "Okay."

"Kakashi." Tsunade made a 'come here' motion to Kakashi with her hand. She leaned over and whispered something to him. His visible eyebrow went up.

"Are you sure he can handle it?"

"Gai will be there if any problems come up. Besides, he's got to try it at some point and this is the perfect mission for a trial run."

"I'm fine with it. Tomoyo's been nagging me to spend more time with her anyway," Kakashi answered with a chuckle.

Naruto began to tap his fingers on his thigh. He knew they were talking about him because his mother kept glancing in his direction and the suspense was driving him nuts.

"Alright then. Naruto, how would you like to be the leader of team seven for this mission?" Tsunade asked with a wide smile.

If Sakura's eyes had opened any wider they would have rolled out of their sockets, Naruto's jaw dropped and Sasuke's expression was utterly incredulous. "Are you _serious_?! I'm way more qualified to lead a mission than that dobe!"

Tsunade's face became serious. "This isn't open for debate, Sasuke. If you can't fight under Naruto's command then tell me now and I will find you a temporary replacement for this mission."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade nodded in approval, then turned to her son. "You don't have to accept this offer if you don't feel you're ready, but if you do accept then I will expect nothing but your best. You _will_ take it seriously every step of the way. Sakura, I want you to keep tabs on everything Naruto does in the capacity of leader. I expect a detailed report."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," Sakura replied.

"So, Naruto--Do you want to give this a try?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto's heart was beating hard. He was excited and nervous at the same time. Leadership. He'd dreamed of it for so long, but did he have the skills for it? He took a deep breath and nodded. "Hai, Kaa-san."

"Well then, I suggest you all get packed. Gai's team will meet you by the gates in one hour. Dismissed." There was a shout of affirmation and then suddenly the room was empty. Well, almost empty. She noticed her son had yet to depart. "Naruto?"

"Is it really okay for a gennin to lead a team?" Naruto asked carefully.

Tsunade just smiled. "In this case yes. It's a low risk mission and I think you can manage it."

At hearing that Naruto dropped all formalities. He jumped into the air and let out a loud whoop before hugging Tsunade. "Arigato, Kaa-san!"

"You're welcome. Just make sure you do your job. I want a good report from Sakura, alright?"

"Yosh!" Naruto replied excitedly. "Ja!" And he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Good luck, brat," Tsunade said warmly.

* * *

Naruto had ordered his team to make camp for the night while he worked out what he would say to the Daimyo. Once the tent was up Sakura walked over to him. "We're all set," she reported, feeling a little silly reporting to _Naruto_ of all people.

He looked up from his papers. "Domo, Sakura-chan," he said with a smile before going back to his work.

Sakura cocked her head to one side. "Aren't you coming? You're going to need your sleep for tomorrow."

Naruto didn't look up this time. "Yeah, in a bit. I just wanna figure this out."

Sakura smiled. "Okay. Oyasumi Naruto-kun," she said with a yawn as she walked off toward the tent.

"Oyasumi."

The ground clutter crunched under her feet as Hinata walked up to Naruto. "Oyasumi, Naruto-kun," she said.

"Oyasumi," Naruto replied distractedly.

Hinata frowned a little. "Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?" Naruto said as he scribbled down some notes.

"Do...do you have time for a goodnight hug?" Hinata asked meekly.

Naruto put down his brush, looked up at her and smiled. "Sorry, Hina-chan," he said as he got to his feet and gave her the hug she had wanted. "I'm just kinda nervous about tomorrow."

Hinata sighed in understanding and smiled. "You'll be fine. I know you can do it."

Naruto tightened the hug. "Domo." He gave her a kiss. "I guess I can work on this in the morning," he said, giving the papers on the ground a sideways glance.

Hinata nodded. "Oyasumi. I love you."

Naruto's smiled widened and he gave her another quick kiss. "I love you too. Oyasumi, Hina-chan."

The two teens went to their respective tents and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Tenten couldn't help feeling guilty. She'd caught Neji looking at her with an expression of longing and although he had quickly turned away she'd still seen it. Finally she couldn't take the odd silence anymore. "Neji?"

Neji reluctantly turned around. "Hai?"

"Are you...I mean...is everything okay?" Tenten asked, her lips pressed together in concern.

Neji sighed heavily. "Tenten, I know what you're trying to do, but it's not necessary. I will be fine. It will just take some time," he said. He noticed the sad look on her face. "But our friendship will never be over. Alright?"

Tenten smiled in relief and nodded. "Hai," she said. "Oyasumi, Neji."

"Oyasumi, Tenten." He smiled warmly at the object of his love, knowing that even if he fell for someone else some part of his heart would always belong to her.

* * *

Naruto checked to see that his team mates were asleep and then proceeded to pull a mirror out of Sakura's backpack. He sat down on his sleeping bag and used the light of the moon to check out his reflection. He winced as he studied his teeth, pulling his upper lip back so he could see better. _Dammit!_

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw that Sakura's eyes were open and she was staring at him curiously. He quickly thrust the mirror into his sleeping bag. "Yeah?"

Sakura frowned. "What are you doing with my mirror?"

Naruto cleared his throat and pulled the mirror from its hiding place. "I was...just making sure I look good for tomorrow.

Sakura looked skeptical but let it drop. "That's fine," she said as she held out her hand to receive the mirror. "Just ask next time okay?"

Naruto nodded fervently. "No problem. Night."

Sakura yawned. "Night," she said before putting her mirror away, rolling over and dropping back off to sleep.

Once Naruto was sure she was asleep he used his tongue to feel one of his canines and winced when the sharp point on it drew blood from his tongue. He sighed, pulled his knees up to his chest, put his head in his hands, and whispered to no one. "What am I gonna do?"

* * *

Sakura sat up and stretched her arms above her head. "Ohayo, Sasuke-kun."

"Uhn," came the answer from Sasuke's direction.

Without looking Sakura also said. "Ohayo, Naruto-kun." When she didn't get an answer she looked to her left. Naruto had apparently already gotten up and left the tent. "Sasuke-kun, where's Naruto?"

"How the hell should I know? I just opened my eyes," Sasuke grumbled.

Sakura looked annoyed. "Geez. You're such a grouch in the morning."

"Hmph." Sasuke got up, took his clothes and went off to find a quieter place to get dressed.

* * *

Sakura strolled out of the tent with a bright smile on her face. She noticed Hinata standing nearby and smiled. "Ohayo, Hinata."

There was no answer.

"Hinata? Are you okay?" Sakura asked as she walked to her.

"H-hai. It's just...Naruto-kun...." Hinata said, glancing towards her boyfriend.

Sakura looked over at Naruto, who was sitting on a rock on the edge of the clearing a good thirty feet from the camp. He seemed to be alright but his back was turned to them and he seemed...off somehow.

"He won't talk to me and he hasn't moved from that spot since he came out of your tent. Something's upsetting him but I don't know what," Hinata explained quietly.

Sasuke spoke up from behind them. "He's probably just nervous. I'll talk to him." Without another word he walked over to Naruto.

Sakura shared raised eyebrows with Hinata. Sasuke wasn't usually the type to _offer_ to talk to someone who was upset.

Sasuke tapped his younger brother on the shoulder. "Oi. What's the matter with you?"

No response.

"Hey! I'm talking to you," Sasuke said a bit more loudly, irritation entering his voice.

No response.

Sasuke had had it. No one ignored him—especially not his little brother. So he did the only thing he _knew_ would get a response—he slugged him in the back of the head.

Naruto immediately stood up and rounded on Sasuke. "What the hell is your problem?!" he yelled.

Sasuke noticed Naruto had his teeth bared. And were they ever _bared_. His canines seemed to be about twice the length and sharpness of a normal human's. "Naruto...." he said in shock.

Naruto realized what had been seen and his hand flew to cover his mouth.

"Geez, I didn't think you'd get _that_ pissed. You can put the fangs away now," Sasuke said with a frown.

As Hinata and Sakura approached him Naruto gritted his teeth, turned around and sat back down on the rock hard. "That's just it, Sasuke! I can't _put them away_. They've been getting bigger over the last couple of weeks but then yesterday...." Silence. "Yesterday I checked them in Sakura's mirror and they were almost fifty percent bigger than the day before. I..." He studied his hands, subconsciously checking for claws. "What am I becoming?" he nearly whispered.

Sakura knelt down next to Naruto. "No matter what new physical traits you get, you're still Naruto. It doesn't bother us if...."

"IF WHAT, SAKURA?" Naruto suddenly shouted. "If I start to look like the KYUUBI?!" Tears filled his eyes at the thought.

Sakura looked ashamed with herself. Hinata and Sasuke were silent but wore pained expressions on their faces. "Naruto-kun...." Hinata said sadly.

"What if the next time my eyes turn red they...they stay that way forever? What if I keep those claws? What if I...what if I grow TAILS?!" Naruto said. Tears began to run slowly down his face as the fears he'd kept hidden for almost two weeks came tumbling out into the open. He looked at Hinata with fear. "Could you still love me if I started to look like the thing that killed so many people?!"

Hinata frowned sadly at the question but got down in a crouch next to him. "Naruto is Naruto," she said gently. "I love you and that's it. You don't get rid of me that easily." She put her arms around him and he stiffened for a moment but then relaxed into her embrace.

By now the other team had gathered around to see what all the fuss was about. "Is everything alright here?" Gai asked.

"I think so," Sakura said. "But we should let them be alone for a while."

Gai nodded. "Alright, everyone back to what you were doing," he ordered. Once everyone left he looked at Naruto and Hinata. "Ahh," he said with a sniff, "No where does the power of youth shine more brightly than in young love."

Sakura's eye twitched at his ridiculously dramatic statement. She grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away. "Honestly! Don't you have any shame?!"

Hinata broke the silence. "Are you okay?"

Naruto let out a shaky breath and wiped his eyes. "I think so," he replied quietly. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Hina-chan. I...I'm just scared. It seemed like I was okay for so long and then this starts."

"I'm sure you won't turn into Kyuubi," Hinata said.

"I know I won't," Naruto replied. "But I worked so hard to earn the villagers' respect. If I start to look like a fox...."

Hinata pulled out of the hug and looked into Naruto's eyes. "When Kyuubi was alive, the only things that appeared physically were the claws, teeth and red eyes, right?"

A bit of hope entered Naruto's expression. "Yeah...yeah you're right. And, if my eyes change...I could cover it with a henge in public." He smiled gratefully at Hinata and kissed her. "You're amazing, Hina-chan. Arigato."

* * *

Naruto pulled his backpack strap onto his shoulder, his hair seeming to glow in the light of the morning sun. "Everyone ready?" he asked with a big grin.

A chorus of affirmatives sounded through the group and they continued on their way to Insei.

.........TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Woot! Morgan found the caffeine. :) Hope you guys liked that one. I know it's short, but it just seemed like a good stopping point. Please review. :)


	33. Suspicions

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 33

* * *

By the time the team reached the outer limits of Insei Naruto's stomach was doing back flips. He had used a henge to hide his fangs but he still couldn't help feeling like someone would find him out.

A guard called out to them as they neared the city gate. "Ohayo. What business do you have in Insei?"

Naruto looked to Gai and the older man nodded. "Ohayo. We're shinobi from Konoha. We have an appointment with the Daimyo," Naruto said.

The guard gave Naruto a funny look. Perhaps from surprise that he was not being addressed by the adult of the group. "Give me a moment to get confirmation."

Naruto nodded and the guard sent one of his team mates to deliver the message.

Gai noticed Naruto let out a nervous breath and placed a comforting hand on the teen's shoulder. "Don't worry. You're doing fine," he said with a grin.

A few moments later the messenger returned and said something to the guard. The guard smiled and nodded. "Please follow me."

* * *

As the group made their way down the city streets Sakura noted how beautiful the place was. All the buildings had a flow in their design as if they could become liquid at any moment. Most of the colors in the city were ocean themed—tans, blues, grays and greens. Beautiful flowers and other types of landscaping were everywhere. Yes, this was truly the city of a Daimyo.

"I do not mean to be rude, but may I ask why you addressed me and not your sensei?" the guard asked Naruto.

Gai spoke up. "Our group is actually made up of two teams. Naruto here is in charge of the diplomatic mission," he said with a smile in Naruto's direction.

The guard's eyebrows rose in surprise but he smiled. "You must be an accomplished young man for the Hokage to entrust you with such an important mission."

Sasuke snorted and Sakura kicked him in the shin, earning her a venomous glare in return.

Gai came to the rescue once again. "Naruto-kun has done a lot for Konoha. He'll do a fantastic job!" he said with a thumbs up and a sparkling smile.

Naruto's expression was a mixture of a wince and a smile. "Arigato."

* * *

All the Konoha shinobi were seated on large pillows in front of a tan-skinned man who's weight rivaled that of Chouji's father. He wore a formal, blue kimono and his long brown hair was pulled back into a braid that reached what little he had of a waist. He wore a polite smile as he spoke to them.

"Greetings my friends. I trust this day finds you well. I am Daimyo Kyoha. Pleased to meet you" he said with a slight bow of his head.

Naruto's mind had gone completely blank. He looked to Hinata with subtle panic in his eyes that only she would recognize. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. Naruto bowed low and spoke. "I am Uzumaki Naruto. I will be negotiating with you for the rights to your salt exports. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Daimyo-sama."

Once Naruto sat back up Gai introduced himself. "I am Maito Gai. I will be leading the team investigating the missing children. It is a pleasure to meet you, Daimyo-sama."

"Very good," Kyoha said with approval. "Now to the unpleasant business ahead of us. Gai-sensei, I assume you've had at least a brief explanation of what has been happening."

Gai nodded. "Hai, Daimyo-sama, but I have yet to hear the full details."

"Over the past three weeks fourteen children have been kidnapped. Two of them were visitors to Insei and the most current one was taken only an hour ago," Kyoha explained. He picked up a file folder and opened it to the last page. "The latest victim is Sakai Inari. He was taken from outside one of our hot springs."

Naruto and Sakura gasped and Sasuke's eyes widened as images of Inari flashed in their memories.

Kyoha looked puzzled. "Am I missing something?"

"We...we know him, Daimyo-sama," Sakura managed as Naruto's expression became angry.

He gritted his teeth and was barely able to stay sitting. The idea that Inari had been taken away from his home after team seven had fought so hard to save his family from Zabuza's employer made Naruto furious.

Hinata noticed Naruto's emotional state and placed her hand on his. He looked at her and got the message. Noticeably calmer he looked back at Kyoha. "I apologize for my reaction. This is a shock and I'm very worried," he said tensely.

Kyoha nodded. "Of course."

"Do you have any idea why the children were taken?" Gai asked.

Kyoha sighed and shook his head. "Not really. The best idea we've come up with so far is a potential slave trade. No one person could have done this. It would take a large group and skilled planning. I can't believe it's something as simple as the average kidnapping."

"I agree. We'll get started immediately," Gai said.

"Very good." Kyoha nodded toward the guard who had lead them to the palace. "Hakuba-san will take you to the place where Inari was last seen."

Gai and his team stood. "We will do our best, Daimyo-sama," he said with a low bow.

"Follow me, please," Hakuba said as he walked toward the door.

Before Gai's team left Neji looked at team seven. "Don't worry. We will find your friend," he said with a determined expression.

"Naruto-san, are you alright to continue today or do you need time to collect your thoughts?" Kyoha offered.

Naruto desperately wanted to take Kyoha up on his offer but he knew that if he was going to be Hokage he couldn't afford to let his emotions take him over so completely anymore. "Thank you for your offer, Daimyo-sama, but we should get on with our mission."

"Very well then. What can you offer our country that the others have not?" Kyoha asked.

Naruto nodded, checked his notes quickly and spoke. "We can offer you four hundred and fifty thousand yen per month and should you require the help of our shinobi they will be available to you at no cost."

Sakura just watched Naruto in amazement. To see him so formal and polite nearly made him seem like a different person all together. Sasuke however wore an approving smirk. Maybe his brother was growing up after all.

Kyoha was quiet for a moment as he considered the offer. "Very interesting. I..." He was cut off as woman with black hair cut to the bottom of her chin walked into the room.

"I am in the middle of an important meeting, Narumi," Kyoha said. "Can this wait?"

"I'm afraid not, Daimyo-sama. It's very important," Narumi said with an urgent tone.

Kyoha frowned and looked back to Naruto. "Please excuse me for a moment. I shouldn't be long," he said with a slight bow of his head.

"Of course, Daimyo-sama," Naruto replied with a low bow.

Kyoha and Narumi walked into an adjoining room and shut the sliding door.

* * *

"Is it about Kidomizu?" Kyoha asked tensely.

"Hai," Narumi said in a whisper. "There have been reports of suspicious people near his home."

Kyoha frowned. "Alright. Disguise yourself and move him and his foster family to a safe location. Make it look like they are going on a family outing or it might attract attention."

Narumi bowed quickly. "As you command, Daimyo-sama."

* * *

"What do you think they're talking about in there?" Naruto asked Sakura.

Sakura frowned. And just when she thought he was maturing. "It's none of our business, Naruto-kun. Just be patient."

Naruto pouted and leaned his head on Hinata's but quickly sat up again when he heard the door opening.

Kyoha came in with a smile. "I apologize for the interruption. Just a matter of internal affairs," he said as he resumed his place on the rather ornate throne he had occupied earlier.

"It's not a problem, Daimyo-sama," Naruto replied graciously.

Kyoha smiled widely. "Splendid. Now, as for your offer. I believe I will accept."

Naruto's face broke into a grin. "Arigato, Daimyo-sama. You won't regret it," he said as he bent down into a floor-kissing bow.

"And since your business here is completed you may join Gai-sensei's team in their search. I will send the paperwork for our transaction home with you when you leave Insei," Kyoha said.

Naruto bowed again. "Arigato."

* * *

"I'm so glad that's over," Naruto said as they emerged from the palace. "Being that formal is exhausting."

Sakura rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Baka."

* * *

"I see. Thank you for your help," Gai said to the elderly man he had been questioning.

"Tazuna-san?"

Tazuna turned toward the voice he'd just heard and squinted as though he was trying to place her face. "Do I know you?" His gaze moved to Naruto and then came to rest on his cheek marks. "Hey now! Is that Naruto?!" he asked happily.

Sakura pouted in disappointment that Tazuna hadn't recognized her also. After all—How many pink-haired ninja could there be?

Naruto smiled. "Hey, Tazuna."

"You're here to help look for Inari too?" Tazuna asked hopefully.

Naruto's smile faltered a bit. "Hai. And we'll find him. You can count on it!" he said firmly.

"Arigato, Naruto-kun," Tazuna replied with a respectful bow.

"Unfortunately Tazuna-san didn't see anything so our only option is to split up and search," Gai said. "We'll take the east side near the river. One of the residents said their child disappeared from that area. You might want to start near the salt mines. I've been told there are many other tunnels not in use. It would be a tempting hiding place."

Naruto nodded. "Okay." He looked to his team. "Let's go!"

* * *

Neji frowned as Gai's team headed for the river. Something was bothering him. "Gai-sensei?"

"Hm?" Gai said.

"If the river is the most likely starting place why didn't we _all_ start there and then spread out if needed? Why send team seven on such a weak lead?"

Gai smiled. "Naruto is a strong young man, but since it's his first command Tsunade-sama wants him in the lowest risk situation possible."

Neji nodded. "I see."

"Ah. We're here," Gai said as the river came into sight. "Spread out and look for clues. Report back here in twenty minutes."

* * *

The cave entrance in front of them was rather wet and a cold wind blew from it making it very uninviting. "Okay, we're here. Umm." Naruto looked around at his team, trying to choose a formation and praying to God he knew what the hell he was doing. "Hina-chan, you take the lead, I'll go after you. Sakura, you're after me. Sasuke, you bring up the rear and keep an eye out for an attack from behind."

Sakura smiled. "That sounds good, Naruto-kun."

Naruto gave her a grateful smile. "Let's get moving then."

* * *

Sakura shivered and rubbed her arms. She hadn't anticipated needing warmer clothing. _It must be a deep cave for it to be this cold,_ she thought.

"See anything yet, Hina-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing yet. There are so many tunnels it's hard to keep track of which ones I've already looked at," Hinata said with a tone of apology.

"It's okay, Hina-chan. Just keep looking," Naruto replied encouragingly.

* * *

Tenten had been checking the trees for clues when she noticed Gai standing in a small clearing, staring at nothing. She leapt down beside him. "Gai-sensei, are you okay?"

"Hai." Gai answered. "But something is bothering me. It didn't occur to me straight away, but after looking over the list of missing children and talking to the adults in the city I realized that all the children taken were boys around eleven years old."

Tenten's eyes widened a bit. "That can't be a coincidence," she said with a frown.

"Hai. I think we need to speak with the Daimyo again. There's something he's not telling us." Gai turned to Tenten. "Find the others and meet me at the palace. I'm going to retrieve team seven." As Tenten left Gai stared at the afternoon sky in thought for a moment. _Just who are the kidnappers looking for?_

.........TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Dun dun duuuuuun! Lol. I love cliffies. But this one's not too bad so I think I can safely stay out of the RPB (Reader Proof Bunker).

I was informed by two of my readers that brandiuchiha has posted some of book one under her account and is claiming it as hers. I assure you this person does not have my permission and I am doing everything in my power to have my story removed from her account. So anyways, I have been informed of the situation and thanks to the ones who pointed it out.

Another reader told me about a plot mistake I made last chappy. Hinata's mother couldn't have been killed by the Kyuubi because Hanabi is younger than Hinata and therefore would have to have been born quite a while after the Kyuubi attack. This has been fixed. :)

Next chapter will hopefully be soon since I'll be leaving for vacation next Friday.

Please read and review! :)

Thanks,

Song


	34. The Foolish Father

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 34

* * *

Naruto was about to suggest they head down a new tunnel when he sensed a strong chakra behind them. He turned around and they team saw Gai closing in on them. "Yo, Gai-sensei. What's up?"

"I realized something disturbing about this case. We need to speak with the Daimyo before we continue," Gai said seriously.

Naruto looked at the rest of his team and when they all did variations of a shrug he turned back to Gai. "What's going on?"

"There's something the Daimyo isn't telling us and I intend to find out what," Gai said with a frown.

* * *

"Welcome, Gai-san. I wasn't expecting a report from you so soon," Kyoha said with a smile.

Everyone took their places and Gai and Naruto bowed before the Daimyo. "This isn't exactly a report, Daimyo-sama. We are here because I need some questions answered if this mission is to be a success," Gai said with a firm tone to his voice.

Kyoha's expression darkened a bit. "Oh? And what might these questions be?"

"As I was searching the river area I realized an odd correlation between the age and gender of the kidnapped children," Gai explained.

Kyoha visibly stiffened a little. "Go on."

"They were all boys around the age of eleven. You were right when you said this wasn't an average kidnapping, Daimyo-sama. They're searching for someone specific."

Kyoha was quiet although he was starting to take on the body language of a trapped animal.

"I think you know more than you've let on. Who are they looking for?" Gai asked sternly.

Kyoha looked as though he was trying to think of some excuse he could give instead of the truth but he eventually lost the battle and sighed heavily. "His name is Kidomizu," he said in defeat. "He is my son."

Every face on the Konoha team showed surprised with the exception of Gai. He sighed in disapproval. "I thought so."

"You knew?" Kyoha asked in surprise.

"I'd already guessed what was going on. I only needed confirmation from you," Gai responded calmly. "Naruto told me you accepted his first offer almost immediately. Now I know why. You wanted to add his team to the search party as fast as possible."

"That's partially correct. I would have accepted regardless. Aside from the fact that the offer was excellent I don't think I could have said no to a member of the team that saved my country from poverty," Kyoha said with a small smile. His smile faded, however, when he turned his attention back to Gai. "I suppose you would like to know why my son is in hiding in the first place."

"It would certainly help," Gai answered.

Kyoha ran his hand through what was left of his hair and sighed. "Am I right in remembering that Konoha has the Kyuubi sealed into one of the village's children?"

Naruto tensed. "Yeah. That was me," he said softly.

Kyoha's attention snapped back to Naruto. "You?!" he said in surprise.

Naruto nodded.

"Well, that explains why you were able to defeat Zabuza so soon after graduating from the academy. But what do you mean by 'was'?"

"That's a long story," Naruto said dismally. "All we have time for me to say is that he died while he was in the seal."

Kyoha looked confused but let it go. "Then you know how dangerous it is to have people know you are a...Jinchuuriki," he said carefully.

Gai's eyes flashed wide with realization as the seriousness of the situation hit him like a lightning strike. "Which of the biju does your son carry?" he asked urgently.

Naruto whipped his head sideways and looked at Gai for a moment in disbelief before turning to stare at Kyoha in anxious anticipation.

"The Sanbii (a/n- the Three Tails)," Kyoha said with what sounded like regret.

Naruto's expression turned to shock. He swallowed and composed himself before speaking. "So you hid him so no one would know," he said softly.

Kyoha nodded. "Most of my country thinks my son died at birth. Only five people, including myself and Narumi-san, know the truth."

"You don't have any ninja. How did you capture the Sanbii?" Sakura asked.

At this Kyoha smirked a little. "My wife was originally a shinobi from Iwagakure (a/n- Hidden Village of Rock). She summoned the Sanbii directly to the seal she created on Kidomizu." He was quiet for a moment. "I should have listened to her. If I had I wouldn't have had to watch my son grow up from a distance," he said sadly.

"Why did you do it?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Nani?" Kyoha asked.

"Why did you seal something like that into your own son?" Naruto asked, his eyes desperate for the answer.

Everyone who knew him well understood why Naruto had asked that question. Hinata took his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

Kyoha sighed. "I knew he would be Daimyo one day and since we have no shinobi village I wanted him to be able to protect this country well. I also wanted to protect _him_. I was already forty-five when he was born and I knew I wouldn't be able to guide him for long."

"Arigato," Naruto said. "I heard similar words from my adoptive mother about why my...." he was about to say 'my father' but thought better of it, "...why the person who sealed Kyuubi into me would do something like that."

Unfortunately, Naruto's omission of his lineage was too late—Kyoha had already caught on.

Kyoha's eyes widened. "I _knew_ something else about you seemed familiar! You're the Yondaime Hokage's son!"

Naruto's eyes became filled with panic as he looked at Gai.

Gai cleared his throat. "That fact must never leave this room, Daimyo-sama."

Kyoha looked confused but let it drop. "I would ask why, but this is hardly the time."

Gai nodded. "Now that I know the reason behind the kidnappings I also believe I know who is behind them."

Kyoha was instantly more alert. "Who?!" he asked.

"We may be dealing with the Akatsuki," Gai said amid several sounds of worry made by his comrades. "And if this is indeed the case then this mission just got a lot more dangerous. We need to send for reinforcements before anything else is done."

"We don't have the time to waste!" Kyoha protested loudly.

"Daimyo-sama, with all due respect, you obviously do not understand what we're up against. These are quite possibly the most dangerous renegade ninja organization in existence."

The look on Kyoha's face was now pleading. "Onegai—At least try to find them while you wait. I could not bare it if they took my son."

Gai sighed in partial defeat. "We will do what we can. In the meantime, please send a message to Konoha detailing what has happened."

"Of course," Kyoha replied.

* * *

Now that he knew why the Daimyo's son was in danger Naruto was even more determined to stop the Akatsuki—if that's who was truly behind the kidnappings of course. He and his team were headed back to the mining area. As they walked he absentmindedly ran his tongue over his elongated canines.

Hinata noticed her boyfriend's preoccupation with his teeth and frowned a little in worry. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked down at her. "Hm?"

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"I thought you were worried about your teeth again," Hinata explained gently.

Naruto gave her grateful smile. "Not really. Just messin' with 'em," he replied.

"Okay," Hinata said with a smile and a squeeze of his left arm.

* * *

As they came within sight of the mines Naruto noticed something odd. "Hey...where's the entrance?"

Sasuke looked at the place where they had entered the cave system earlier. Naruto was right. The entrance had simply vanished. "What the hell?"

Naruto looked to his girlfriend. "Hina-chan."

Hinata immediately understood what Naruto wanted. "Byakugan!" Her enhanced eyesight revealed the cave entrance was still there, just hidden from sight. "It's a genjutsu," she said after a moment.

Naruto nodded. "Well, we're definitely dealing with shinobi," he said with confidence. "Let's go. Hina-chan, you're in the lead."

Hinata smiled and nodded. "Hai."

* * *

"You left the entrance open, Hidan!" said the irate man who had most of his head and face covered by a hat and wrappings.

Hidan rolled his eyes. "Fuck off, Kakuzu. Like the people around here could lift a finger against us," he said as he slammed the prison cell door he'd been holding open shut.

Kakuzu ignored the crying of the child they had just locked away. "_They_ can't, but the group from Konoha I saw today _can_."

Hidan's expression changed to a frown. "Ya know, Konoha really pisses me off," he complained as he ran a hand over his slicked-back, silver hair.

"We need to kill these kids. They're getting on my nerves," Kakuzu said irritably.

"I told you we can as soon as we have the Sanbii. I want to sacrifice the largest group possible in one shot to honor Jashin," Hidan countered.

Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "You and your stupid religion. It gives me a freaking headache. One of these days I'm going to kill you," he growled.

Hidan smirked. "Oh please. Like you could anyway." He looked in the cell nearest to him and glared at its raven-haired occupant. "I might let you kill this one though, if he tries to escape again."

Inari tried his best to look brave like Naruto had taught him, but in the face of such a powerful enemy—and having no ninja training to fall back on—the fear in his eyes betrayed him.

* * *

Gai looked up as the rest of his team jumped into their meeting place. "Report," he commanded.

"Nothing," Neji answered.

Lee shook his head. "Gomen, Gai-sensei."

"I found signs of a struggle, but nothing that would lead us to their hideout," Tenten said with disappointment.

Gai frowned. "Alright. Let's go see how team seven is doing; then we can decide on our next course of action."

* * *

Naruto and his team walked through the entrance to the cave system, unaware that they had just walked over a seal that was hidden in the dirt—which now glowed briefly in response to their presence.

Hidan looked up suddenly. "Hmm; seems someone has tripped the chakra alarm," he said with mild interest.

"Let's go deal with them then," Kakuzu said.

Hidan looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "Let's take a hostage with us."

"Why the hell would we need a hostage?" Kakuzu asked indignantly.

Hidan smiled in a frightening way. "Amusement," he answered. He walked down the short row of cells. The cells each had and average of four kids in them...except one. He stopped in front of Inari's cell. "And I have the perfect choice."

Inari shrank back from the cell door as it opened.

* * *

It wasn't long into their trek that Hinata finally saw what they were looking for. "I don't know why I couldn't see them before, but the boys are through that wall," she said, pointing a finger at the rock face in front of them.

Naruto frowned in thought. "I don't think we could dig through quietly enough so we'll hafta find a way around."

Sakura's hand was suddenly on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto-kun, wait. The reason Hinata can see them now might be that this is a trap," she advised.

"I know, but we don't have time to come up with a different plan," Naruto replied. "We're depending on you, Hina-chan," he said with a warm smile.

Hinata nodded sharply and lead the way down the cold tunnels.

* * *

"There're the cages," Sasuke whispered as they stepped into the cell area. "But where are the guards? I don't like this," he said as he looked around for signs of the enemy.

"I don't see anything suspicious," Hinata said.

"Inari," Naruto called out in a loud whisper. He saw a boy with black hair. "Inari?" The boy shook his head.

"No, but there was another guy in that cell over there who had black hair too. They took him a few minutes ago. They said he was a hostage," the boy said with a worried expression.

Naruto's face hardened. "Okay. You guys let these kids out. Get them somewhere safe," he said to Sakura and Sasuke. "Hina-chan and me will go after Inari."

"Naruto, you and Hinata aren't going to be enough to face down Akatsuki," Sasuke warned.

"I know," Naruto answered. He lanced his finger with his ring and slammed his hand to the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke and a loud pop later Kazehana appeared before them. "Konnichiwa, Naruto-kun. What do you need?"

"We're going into a fight. You ready?" Naruto asked.

Kazehana smiled. "Always."

* * *

Once the others had left Sasuke and Sakura quickly set about to the task of freeing the boys. Sakura cursed a little under her breath once when a sharp edge on one of the doors dug into the flesh of her left palm.

"That's the last group. Let's go," Sasuke announced.

"Now you guys gotta be super quiet, okay?" Sakura said sweetly.

The boy who had earlier been mistaken for Inari made a face. "We're not a bunch of babies you know."

"Sorry. I guess now that I'm fourteen I forget that boys your age don't need so much guidance," Sakura said with an embarrassed smile.

"You're only three years older than us. Don't get so cocky," the boy answered irritably.

"Cocky?!" Sakura said angrily. "Come over here and say that again," she said with her balled fist held out in front of her.

Sasuke's hand was immediately on her fist. "We don't have time for this!"

Sakura glared at him but simply snorted in distaste. "Fine!" she snapped. "Let's go!" she said as she marched off toward the exit.

Sasuke shook his head. _She's getting as bad as Naruto._

* * *

Naruto's team raced down the tunnels. Their footfalls echoed off the walls, making it sound like there were a lot more than three runners.

The light from the high noon sun sparkled at them from the mouth of the tunnel and they squinted their eyes against the brightness of it as the leapt out into the open meadow. What they saw when they opened their eyes entirely made them freeze in their tracks, making little gouges in the dirt as they dug their heels in to stop themselves.

Two men stood in front of them; both wearing Akatsuki cloaks. They didn't recognize either of them but the silver-haired one held Inari tightly to him, a nasty looking triple bladed scythe was against the boy's throat.

"INARI!" Naruto yelled in concern.

Inari's eyes became wide as dinner plates. "Naruto-nii-san?!" he said in disbelief.

"So this is the team from Konoha? Awfully small group aren't you?" Hidan drawled lazily.

"There's more coming," Naruto proclaimed. "So hand over Inari and maybe we'll let you live!"

Hidan laughed loudly. "Oh brother. You guys are a riot."

Kakuzu elbowed Hidan in the side to get his attention. "That's Uzumaki Naruto!"

Hidan suddenly looked very pleased. "You know I think you're right? This could be our lucky day," he said with a grin.

Kakuzu rolled his eyes at his partner's cheerfulness. "Let's just kill them so we can get out of here."

"Heh. Usually I'm the one sayin' that," Hidan commented. "Yo, science experiment," he called to Naruto with a smirk.

Naruto's angry expression deepened. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

Hidan sniggered. "He doesn't know. All the things he's seen in the last year and he doesn't know."

"Control yourself would you?" Kakuzu growled.

"He's probably talking about the niji chakra," Kazehana offered.

"That's part of it," Hidan admitted. "Would you like to know before we kill you?" He took Naruto's silence as a cue to go on. He cleared his throat. "We were looking for a new weapon—something that would give us enough power to reach our goals. Orochimaru was still a member back then and he suggested we harness the power of the Kyuubi. We all thought he was insane because the Kyuubi couldn't just be summoned like the other biju. He was the only one never captured by humans because his insane power made bringing him to this dimension pure suicide."

Hidan cracked his neck to one side and continued on. "He explained that he thought the Kyuubi could be summoned and trapped in a baby at the cost of the summoner's life. Of course none of us felt like dying," he said with a slight chuckle, "so the idea was put on the back burner."

"When Orochimaru found out you were gonna be born he found a way to get the Kyuubi and get his revenge on the Yondaime while he was at it. He knew that Yondaime would figure out how to seal the Kyuubi. He also knew that your idiot father wouldn't dare use someone else's child." Hidan smiled oddly. "Orochimaru was a prick, but I gotta admire his cruelty. He got your dad killed and cursed you to a life of pain in one shot."

"SON OF A....!" Naruto began.

Hidan silenced him by cutting Inari's throat a little. A thin line of blood ran down Inari's neck and stained his collar. "Now now," Hidan said, "I'm not done the story. You gotta hear the end," Hidan said with a calm smile.

Naruto gritted his teeth to keep quiet.

"That's better," Hidan said. "We were told you died after the sealing so we went back to business as usual. Years later, at the Chuunin exams, Orochimaru found out you were alive and we got things rolling again." His smile became malevolent. "Do you remember the clones you found?"

Naruto's eyes became wide as the images of the soulless creatures in the lab came flooding back to him like a torrent.

Hidan smirked at Naruto's expression. "Those aren't clones of your dad...they're clones of _you_."

.........TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

And you FINALLY hear more about the mysterious clones. I'm so glad I found a place for the explanation. I was getting tired of waiting myself. Lol.

I hope the end of this chapter made sense. It does to me but then I'm not exactly normal. Lol.

I realize I'm making the Sanbii a dif person than the manga, but this was needed for my plot. I hope you can ignore this little fact.

Before any of you ask—NO, Minato will NOT be brought back to life in a clone.

About Hidan and Kakuzu. These guys are in the manga and the anime and _yes_ Hidan has a very foul mouth so you're gonna hafta deal with it. I hope I wrote their personalities correctly. It's been ages since I read that part of the manga so I'm going from an almost year old memory of them.

One of my readers asked me a bunch of questions and since they didn't log in I will answer them here. **1.** No, I will not be introducing Killerbee. That guy makes my IQ drop. **2.** The niji chakra will not influence Naruto's lifespan. **3.** Yes I plan on a book 3. But I'm not sure if it will be a full sequel or just a spin-off story. **4.** No, Itachi did not give Naruto or Sasuke the "gift". **5.** I don't know if Konohamaru will be in the story. Not sure I could write him believable (Mainly cause he annoys me). Yes, some questions were skipped, but I feel they've already been answered in the story if you look hard enough.

At any rate. There will be new stuff on the Deviant art account soon so keep an eye out. (colad-art-gallery dot deviantart dot com)

And now I must go for it is 3:20 in the morning and I'm exhausted.

Ja na,

Song


	35. Immortal Sin

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 35

* * *

"What?!" Naruto said in horror.

"How the hell did you get samples of Naruto's DNA?" Sakura's voice said from Naruto's right.

"Sakura?! What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be getting the kids to safety!" Naruto said loudly.

"WHAT?!" Hidan yelled irately.

Kakuzu snorted. "I told you we should have killed them sooner."

"Shut the fuck up!" Hidan spat. He turned to Naruto's group. "I am gonna torture you ten times as much to make up for the loss of my sacrifices!" he yelled.

"Inner Sakura is taking care of it," Sakura said, ignoring Hidan's rant. "You need a healer."

Hinata's eyes widened and then she cast her gaze to the ground. "I know how they got the samples," she said. "When Orochimaru...took him last year," she said in voice that said she could barely stomach the memory.

"Heh. One of you has brains after all," Hidan said mockingly.

Kakuzu glared at his partner suspiciously. "Since when the hell do you make such long, cliché speeches?"

Hidan rolled his eyes. "Because it's fun messing with people's heads. Get with the program you fucktard."

"You keep saying shit like that and I'm gonna rip out your intestines!" Kakuzu growled angrily.

"Pft, you wouldn't do it. You know you'd have clean up the mess so we could get back to work," Hidan answered with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Kakuzu gave a derisive snort. "Just hurry the hell up," he said through gritted teeth.

Hidan smirked in satisfaction and went on. "Because of the unique method of sealing Yondaime came up with simply removing Kyuubi woulda been impossible. We gave up on our plans for a while till Orochimaru said he knew how to kill the beast but leave the power." He looked upwards in a wistful manner and sighed. "I wish I coulda been there. Such a beautiful torture. I get chills just from imagining your screams." He ignored the horrified look on Naruto's face and went on. "We found out about his plans when he went to Itachi, asking for help to catch you. In exchange he was sposed ta stay outta our way. He had no idea we planned to have him killed once you had the niji chakra," he said with an evil grin.

Hidan cracked his neck again. "We needed a clone of you cause only your system that can handle that much chakra. And now that we finally have a clone who isn't a drooling blank dumbass we'll transfer the niji chakra to him and make him a member. He'll be the perfect weapon and you...you'll be a corpse," he finished with a cruel glint in his eyes.

Naruto started to rush forward but was stopped when more of Inari's blood ran down the boy's neck.

"Uh uh uh," Hidan said. "Now, are you going to turn yourself in or do I give this brat a look at his entrails?"

Naruto sighed and closed his eyes with a frown. "I guess I don't have a choice." He looked at Hidan. "Hey, asshole—can I at least have a minute to say goodbye?"

"Heh. Whatever," Hidan replied.

Naruto went over to Sakura and gave her a hug. "Sakura-chan, is inner Sakura done with the kids yet?" he whispered.

Sakura turned her face into Naruto's chest so Hidan and Kakuzu couldn't see her mouth move. "Almost."

"Use her to get Inari outta there."

"I'll try," Sakura whispered back.

Naruto and Sakura pulled apart and Naruto gave Hinata a kiss. "I love you."

Tears had formed in Hinata's eyes. "I love you too."

"Alright alright. Break it up," Hidan said. "We're on a tight schedule here. We still gotta find that damn sanbii brat."

Naruto swallowed and began walking—it was then that Inari found his voice. "No, Naruto-nii-san! You can't!"

"Oh dear. You can't seem to shut up can you? What a shame." And without another word Hidan took a small, single-bladed scythe from under his robe and neatly sliced off Inari's right pinky finger.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Inari screamed.

"INARI!!" Naruto and Sakura yelled in horror.

"Ahhhh! Gyahhhh!" Inari cried as he held his profusely bleeding hand.

Kakuzu covered his ears and gritted his teeth. "Now he's just making _more_ noise."

Hidan smiled serenely. "Yeah, but this is a sound I like."

Naruto could barely contain himself. "You son of a bitch," he growled.

"Yeah yeah. Hurry up before he loses more than a finger," Hidan said.

Naruto reached the end of his walk and Hidan began to bind Naruto's hands. Hidan's shadow suddenly came to life and shot upwards, knocking Inari away from the Akatsuki. It was then that Gai and the rest of the Konoha group came charging into the clearing. Gai picked up Inari and got him out of the way in the space of less than a second.

Naruto used the confusion to jump up into a nearby tree and barely missed being sliced in half by Hidan's deadly weapon.

Gai looked at Inari's hand and then at Sakura. He was angry. "I told you not to engage the enemy!"

"We didn't have a choice! Those kids were gonna die if we didn't get them out." Sakura paused for a second. "Naruto made the right decision," she said firmly.

Gai's eyes widened a bit in surprise but quickly became serious again. "Well, it's too late to argue about it now. Let's just deal with this." He looked with sympathy at Inari's hand. "See what you can do to stop the bleeding."

Sakura nodded. "Hai."

"Hinata, Kazehana, you're with us," Gai said.

Suddenly Hidan's eyes were wide and he was staring down at what looked like black triangular spear sticking out of his chest. He looked behind him to see a perfect shadow image of the girl with the pink hair. Its arm had extended and sharpened.

"Got him!" Sakura said in triumph. But her smile faded away when she noticed Hidan staring at her with what could almost be described as an annoyed pout. "Wha...why isn't he dead?"

"Why you sneaky little bitch," Hidan stated in a half impressed, half annoyed tone. He pointed at Inner Sakura's arm. "Do you have any fucking idea how much that hurts?"

Inner Sakura pulled its arm out and jumped back to its mistress.

Gai's face was one of shock. "Is this guy immortal?" he muttered to himself. Suddenly he noticed he was only looking at one opponent. "Where's the other one?!"

Kakuzu appeared behind Sakura—his fist moving toward her with frightening speed. She barely managed do dodge and wound up with a glancing blow to her left hip despite her efforts.

Hidan had taken the opportunity to draw a circular symbol on the ground with the blood dripping from his wound. The circle had a triangle inside it, each of the triangles points touching the circles inner edge. "Hey, don't kill any of them yet. I need them for my ritual," he said to Kakuzu.

Kakuzu cocked an eyebrow as he leapt into a tree. "Fine. Let's see how well you do without my help."

"Like I need it, Bastard." Hidan turned to the Konoha group just as Naruto rejoined them. "Divine judgment awaits, heathens. You who are ignorant to the pain of others."

"How are we going to beat someone we can't kill, Gai-sensei?" Hinata asked.

Gai stared at Hidan, his teeth clenched. "I don't know."

"He can't be killed but he can be injured. If we can remove his head at least he won't be able to fight," Neji suggested much more calmly than he should have been able to at that moment.

"You don't have time to chat!" Hidan yelled. He whirled his triple scythe around by a long chain coming from its handle and whipped it toward the Konoha group.

The group dodged and the mighty weapon dug a ten foot long track in the dirt where they had been a moment ago. Naruto made twelve kage bunshins, Hinata charged up chakra to her fingertips, Tenten pulled out a kunai, Lee removed his weights and the rest fell into battle stances.

Gai began making seals but the scythe flew again and managed to make a nasty cut on his right forearm before he got out of the way. "Gah!"

Naruto's eyes flattened into a suspicious glare when he noticed Hidan lick the blood off his blade.

Kazehana let loose with a huge ball of flame from her mouth. Hidan dodged it for the most part but his arm got badly burned.

"UGH! After I kill you I'm gonna make a leather belt outta your ass!" Hidan yelled.

Kakuzu snorted. "Told you, you should have trained more in dodging."

"Shut the hell up!" Hidan retorted.

Suddenly Gai's face contorted in pain and his hand flew to cradle his arm which now felt like it had been burned. "What the hell?"

Lee saw Hidan's skin begin to change color. "Neji-san, look at Hidan."

Neji's expression became confused. "What on earth....?"

When it was done changing Hidan's skin had become pitch black and it looked like he had skeletal tattoos all over his body, giving him a very eerie appearance.

"Hurts doesn't it, asshole?" Hidan said with a smirk. "Divine judgment has been dealt."

Is this a jutsu or something? Gai wondered.

"How's it feel? Perhaps you've come to understand the pain of others." Hidan smirked and shifted his weight a bit. "And now the ritual begins. You've already fallen victim to my curse." He smoothed his hand over his hair. "It's time for the two of us to savor sublime suffering!" He pulled out a long, thin dagger and aimed it at his leg. "Get ready! This is gonna hurt like hell!" He cackled madly as he drove the blade through his thigh.

Gai's hands flew to his leg as he cried out in pain and fell to the ground. "Wh...what....?" he croaked out through gritted teeth.

Hidan laughed again. "Isn't the pain fantastic? And living through it feels even better! As the other dies, their agony resonates through my body. This pain is the best!"

Sakura hurriedly finished with Inari's finger. Gai needed her more. She picked up Inari and put him in a safe place about twenty yards away before rejoining her team.

"Attacking the vitals is such a waste. This is much more fun!" Hidan said gleefully.

"I'm gonna gut you!" Naruto yelled. His upper body weight shifted forward, indicating that he was about to run at Hidan.

Sakura's eyes widened and she quickly held Naruto back. "Naruto, look!" she said as she pointed to Gai's leg. "That's the same spot where Hidan stabbed himself. If we just rush Hidan Gai sensei's life would be in danger."

Naruto nodded and his expression settled into a frown. "What the hell do we do then?" he wondered out loud.

Hidan pulled the dagger out of his leg and held it up high. "Woooo! Where do ya want it next?" he said as he hovered the dagger over various spots on his body. His smile became sadistic and he held the weapons tip at his heart. "Or should I just end it now?"

Tenten looked to Sakura. "What about Inner Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head. "She takes up too much chakra. If I take her out again I won't be able to heal anyone."

Kakuzu had been entertaining himself by breaking small branches off the tree he was perched in but he'd gotten impatient. "If it's gonna take this long I'll kill them all myself."

Hidan angrily turned his head toward his partner. "Back the fuck off, Kakuzu! They're mine!"

"How did he link his body to Gai-sensei's like that?" Lee asked.

Naruto's eyes went wide. "The blood! I saw him lick Gai-sensei's blood off his main weapon! Could that be it?" he asked Sakura.

Sakura was surprised. "Partially—but look at the symbol on the ground. I think he's got to stay inside it to keep his curse going. He drew it just before his skin changed."

Naruto thought for a minute and suddenly his expression became determined. "I have an idea, but I'll need a distraction to make sure he doesn't have time to react to me."

Kazehana reluctantly raised a clawed hand. "I can do it."

"Okay," Naruto said. He turned to Tenten and whispered something to her.

Tenten nodded slightly, moved behind Lee and Neji and discreetly took a scroll from the pouch on her hip. "Ready."

"Okay," Kazehana replied and in the space of a few seconds she was a naked human woman, instantly drawing Hidan's attention.

Hidan cocked an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to impress me? Hate ta break it to ya girly, but I've seen naked chicks that were much hotter than you," he remarked smugly.

Kazehana's face squished up into an offended frown.

Naruto barely managed to avoid passing out from blood loss at the sight of Kazehana long enough to throw his special kunai. It landed right at Hidan's feet and in the blink of an eye Naruto vanished and reappeared right behind Hidan. He took advantage of the moment of surprise to knock Hidan out of the circle.

A huge, black windmill shuriken sliced through the air _and_ Hidan's neck. His head flew from his body and landed on the ground. His body quickly followed suit.

As Tenten landed from throwing her weapon Naruto used his foot to erase the blood symbol and turned to Kakuzu. "Okay, and now for...."

"Kakuzu, you bastard!"

Naruto's eyes widened to full capacity as he stared in disbelief at Hidan's talking head.

"You knew what they were doing! You let them hurt me on purpose!" Hidan yelled angrily.

Kakuzu cocked an eyebrow. "You're the one who told me not to interfere. Besides—is it really that wise of you to be yelling like that in your current situation?"

"It's not like you have to point out my mistakes and make me look like a fool you insensitive bastard!"

* * *

"Is this all of them?" Sasuke asked hurriedly as he ushered the last of the children into Kyoha's audience chamber

Kyoha looked over the group. "Almost. One is missing," he replied.

Sasuke nodded. "Inari," he answered. "The Akatsuki have him. The rest of our shinobi are trying to get him back."

"You'd best be going then," Kyoha advised.

"Any word on our reinforcements?" Sasuke asked.

"Unfortunately no," Kyoha answered.

"Alright then," Sasuke took out a piece of paper and quickly drew a map. He handed it to Kyoha. "This is our location. Please give it to the team when they arrive."

"Of course. You better hurry. I'm sure they need you," Kyoha said.

Sasuke nodded. "Hai." And with that he ran out the door as fast as his legs would carry him.

* * *

Tenten was helping Gai to his feet. "Are you alright Gai-sensei?"

"Hai. Arigato, Tenten," Gai said as he shook his head to clear his mind.

"For someone who can't die you're an awfully big baby about getting hurt," Kakuzu said.

"Just shut the hell up and help me!" Hidan yelled. Although how he yelled with no lungs to force air through his windpipe was anyone's guess.

"Tch. Fine," Kakuzu grumbled as he began to walk toward his partner.

"Oh no you don't!" Lee yelled as he put on a burst of speed. He grabbed Hidan's head just as Kakuzu was reaching for it and kept running.

"Alright, Fuzzy brows!" Naruto cheered. "Keep going! We'll handle things here!"

Lee saluted with his free hand. "Osu!"

Kakuzu was about to run after Hidan's head when he found himself met with a wall of opposition. "You'll hafta get through us first," Naruto said as he folded his arms.

Kakuzu sighed. "Like that will be a problem." He crossed his arms in front of him which had some kind of stitches around the middle of each forearm. The stitches suddenly popped loose and he thrust his arms forward. His hands, connected by impossibly long tendons, shot out from their moorings and grabbed Sakura and Kazehana by the throats.

Kazehana tried to suck in a breath to use her fire but her airway was cut off. In desperation she reverted to her dragon form and the new size of her neck proved to be too much for Kakuzu's grip and his hand released her. She fell to the ground and coughed for a second before leaping up and shooting fire at Kakuzu, forcing him to let Sakura go as well.

Gai shot forward, attempting to hit Kakuzu with a series of kicks but Kakuzu was too fast and dodged all but the last one which he caught and used Gai's momentum to toss him nearly twenty feet away. Gai's head landed on a rock and he was out for the count.

"Gai-sensei!" Tenten yelled. Her face flattened into a determined glare as she pulled out a large scroll, made a few hand signs, and unrolled it with a flick of her wrist. There was a puff of smoke and out of it appeared a pair of twin katana. But before she could charge forward Kakuzu suddenly had a sparkling hole through his chest. Behind him was Sasuke with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Got you, you son of a bitch," Sasuke said just before pulling out his arm.

Kakuzu fell to the ground, blood pooling around him.

"Sasuke-kun!" Tenten yelled. For a moment it seemed like she was going to act the fangirl like Sakura had done so long ago and yet.... "What the hell?! I was about to get him!"

Sasuke's smirk became one of amusement. "Be faster next time."

Tenten growled and slugged him in the arm. "You're so damn smug!"

As Sasuke rubbed his arm he couldn't help but think that she was cute when she was mad. He kept it to himself, of course, but it was difficult to do so. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when he was suddenly kicked into the air. He managed to right himself and land, although shakily, on his feet.

Kakuzu lowered his foot to the ground. "Damn you," he said to Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes showed his confusion and worry. _What the hell? I know I hit his heart!_

Kakuzu removed his cloak. Revealing multiple places where he seemed to have stitched himself together and four very creepy looking mask-like faces on his back. One of those faces was broken and bleeding. Bulges appeared under the masks, making them appear to have a life of their own. They ripped themselves from his back and four strange black monsters formed around them. These monsters looked like a very evil version of a haystack.

The broken mask let out a horrible groan of death and fell to the ground, its body dissolving into the dirt. The "threads" that held him together re-stitched the holes the mask monsters had come from.

Sakura was horrified but managed to study the situation fairly well. _Since one of the masks that came out of his body is dead that means Sasuke __**did**__ make a killing blow. There's got to be some trick to it. _

One of the monsters opened its mouth and let out a powerful wind attack. Everyone jumped out of the way and a different monster used an earth attack that thrust pillars up from the ground. The group managed to dodge except for Neji, who rode a pillar to the top and used the height to try out a new attack. He got up some speed by jumping from pillar to pillar and then dove at one of Kakuzu's monsters. "Kaiten Bomu! (A/n-Heavenly Spin Bomb)" A glowing shell of chakra surrounded Neji's body as he rocketed toward his target. He hit with the force of a wrecking ball but still only managed a glancing blow; leaving the mask cracked and bleeding, but still intact.

Sakura had used the distraction to retrieve Gai from the battle field and begin healing his wound.

"Raiton Gian (a/n- Lightning Element: False Darkness)!" yelled Kakuzu. A torrent of lightning raced towards Naruto, Hinata and Kazehana. There was no time to run and so Naruto stood in front of the other two and began channeling chakra, hoping to use it to deflect the coming attack.

Suddenly there was a flash of silver and green and an explosion of lightning to rival that of Kakuzu's attack. "Raikiri!" When the bright light was gone Kakashi stood there, holding up his now burnt hands and breathing hard.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura said in surprise.

"How did you get here so fast?" Neji groaned as he walked slowly to his comrades, nursing a heavy bruise on his left arm.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "Tomoyo!" He ran to a spot not more than twenty feet away where Tomoyo's crumpled form lay on the ground. He gently turned her over. "Tomoyo! Are you alright?!"

Tomoyo managed to force her eyes open. "I'm fine...Kakashi-kun. Just tired. Go and help them," she said with an exhausted smile.

Sakura put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "I'll take care of her."

Kakashi nodded and headed back into the fray where the others were already in the process of avoiding a large fireball. His eyes widened in surprise. _He can use fire too?!_

"Tomoyo brought you here didn't she?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi saw the mild look of anger on the face of his student. "Trust me. I tried to talk her out of it. She's tired but Sakura doesn't look worried so I think she'll be alright."

Naruto seemed reluctantly satisfied with his cousin-in-law's explanation and turned back to the enemy. "I don't know what the hell is up with this guy. For some weird reason he can use three elements. From what Sasuke told me a few days ago, he shouldn't be able to."

Sakura spoke up from where she was healing Tomoyo. "I think it has something to do with those monsters. Sasuke punched him through the chest earlier but it only killed one of those." She made a face. "They came out of his body."

"So it died in his place," Kakashi said with his brow furrowed in thought.

Kakuzu smirked. "Nice deduction. This is my heart collection." He gestured at the monsters. "I took them from various shinobi I've killed. I used to have five, but since you took out one of them I'll have to replace it...with one of yours."

_I see. So he takes people's hearts and acupunctures them into his body. He's even managed to keep their chakra's element; which explains why he can use so many different elemental recompositions. Kakashi thought. _

"Looking at your forehead protectors reminds me of the very first Konoha shinobi I fought," Kakuzu said as the stitches on his right arm loosened. "The first Hokage that is."

"How old can he be?!" Neji asked with wide eyes.

"You're really immortal?" Kakashi asked.

"Nah," Kakuzu answered. "No one is immortal. By adding someone's heart to my collection right before mine stops from old age I've managed to lengthen my lifespan. Of course, the hearts need to be removed from the shinobi while they're still alive." He relished a moment in the horrified looks on the faces of the teenagers. "Enough talking." The stitches on both arms came undone and the strange black, tendon-like things that also made up the mask monsters went toward the Konoha group with the speed of a cobra, wrapping around each of them and holding them tight.

As Naruto struggled against his bonds he was lifted into the air and brought closer to Kakuzu. One of the tendons had been wrapped around his neck, slowly cutting off his air supply.

"Catching you had better be worth it. This whole thing has been a pain in the ass," Kakuzu grumbled. The mouths of his three monsters opened wide, prepared to wipe out the Konoha group with a triple elemental attack.

Naruto's hands came closer and closer as he fought to stay conscious and in one last great effort he brought them together in his favorite seal. Around thirty clones rushed Kakuzu, cutting at his 'tendons' with kunai. The sheer number of them granted them the power to sever the tendons and the team fell free.

In less than a second the tendons were screaming toward them again. Everyone managed to dodge them except Naruto, who was still tired from the combination of the bunshins and the fact that he was still recovering from being choked. A tendon stabbed through his left shoulder and he screamed and lost his battle with the darkness.

* * *

"Naruto."

Naruto heard an unfamiliar voice and felt a hand gently shaking him. "Uuuugh," he groaned.

"Naruto! Wake up!"

Naruto's eyes opened a bit. Through the small gap in his eyelashes he could make out the shape of a man. _Who?_

"Come on, kiddo! You don't have time to be snoozing!" the man said, this time sounding more urgent.

Naruto's eyes opened all the way and the sight that greeted him made his breath catch in his throat. His voice came out in a disbelieving whisper. "D...Dad?"

Namikaze Minato smiled with the same grin that had greeted Naruto in the mirror for the last fifteen years. He reached out a hand and his son took it.

As his father pulled him to his feet Naruto decided he must be dreaming. He was in a fight. Obviously he'd been knocked out. It felt so real yet there was just no other rational explanation except.... His eyes flashed wide and he let go of Minato's hand, leaping backwards in the process. "This...this isn't a dream...is it?" he asked, his heart racing in panic.

Minato smiled and shook his head. "No. I'm really here."

Tears found their way to Naruto's eyes. "Then...then I'm...dead."

Minato's smile became comforting. "No. You're not dead. And, sadly, I'm not alive." He cocked his head to one side. "Don't you have any idea where you are?"

Naruto wiped his eyes and looked around. He was standing in an open field he didn't recognize but for some strange reason the feel of the place's energy felt familiar. Almost like.... "The seal?!"

Minato grinned. "That's my boy."

"You...you were here the whole time?!" Naruto asked.

"No. Only since Orochimaru killed Kyuubi. But even then it's taken me all this time to fully regain my self awareness. When you were stabbed a moment ago the surge in your chakra gave me the final jolt I needed." He walked over to Naruto and stroked his son's forehead. "I wish I had time to talk to you right now, but you're still in danger. I promise I'll explain everything later but for now," he pushed Naruto gently backwards, "you need to wake up."

A white light washed in front of Naruto's vision and his father was gone.

.........TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

This is the longest chapter in COLAD history (4,756 words). I figured you guys deserve it after my long absence. There were several reasons for the delay in this chapter; not the least of which was editing my latest anime music video for the Anime Boston contest. I barely had time for anything else but editing. And then after that was done I had to get back to work on all the custom My Little Pony commissions I'd been neglecting to work on to get my video done for the deadline. Needless to say, my card has been full. Hopefully, now that the dust has settled, the chapters will be coming again on the old schedule.

Yes things will be fully explained soon. For those of you who read the manga I actually had the idea to do this long before the chapter with Naruto and Minato came out. I just find it hilarious that yet again my plans were very close to Kishimoto's. I hope you all like my rendition of the fight so far. I did a lot of research in the hopes of making it believable.

To those who are still reading this story, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sticking with me. I promise I will finish this series no matter what.

Cheers!

Song


	36. The Inevitable

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 36

* * *

Naruto's eyes opened to see Sakura working on healing his wound while everyone else held Kakuzu off. He began to sit up but she pushed him back down.

"Oh no you don't. I know you heal fast but you still need to give me a minute," Sakura said in a very motherly fashion.

"Dammit, Sakura-chan. I know when I'm okay to fight," Naruto protested as he tried to get up again.

Sakura cocked an eyebrow. "Don't make me tie you down." She pushed him to the ground again and her expression became serious. "You know, this wound reminds me of when Sasuke...." she didn't finish her sentence and instead doubled her efforts.

Naruto frowned. "Sakura-chan...."

"It's okay," Sakura said. "I'm long over it. It's just that it reminds me of how you almost died that day, and all I did was sit in the village, expecting you to bring Sasuke back to me." She completed the healing jutsu and began bandaging the closing wound. "I was so useless back then," she said quietly.

Naruto smiled. "Well you sure do a damn good job now," he said, rubbing the spot where the hole in his chest had been. "With healing _and_ fighting," he said as Sakura helped him to his feet.

* * *

"That hurts you son of a bitch!" Hidan yelled as Lee switched his grip so that he was holding him by the hair.

Lee sighed and rolled his eyes. He was about to accommodate the talking head just to get him to shut up when he saw the back-up team of anbu from Konoha headed his way. "Oy, everyone!" he said.

The team changed their direction just a bit to meet up with Lee. "Where are the others?" said a woman's voice from behind an anbu mask.

"They're still fighting. Here!" Lee tossed something in the direction of the anbu who had spoken. "Take this!"

The anbu caught the object and then let out a shriek of surprise. "Why the hell did you throw a head at me?"

"Now that's just fucking rude," Hidan said in protest of being referred to as an object.

"WHOAH!" the anbu said, dropping Hidan fifty feet to the forest floor.

"You stupid biiiiiiitch!" Hidan yelled the entire way down.

Lee sighed and shot down after Hidan, catching him a few feet from the ground. "This guy," he said, handing the head back to the anbu, "is a prisoner. Please take him to the Hokage. I'll give my full report when I get back."

The anbu stuffed Hidan in a bag. "Dammit, bitch! First you drop me and now you're cutting off my view!"

The anbu quickly pulled on the ties to close the back. "That's gonna get annoying as hell _real_ fast!" She handed the bag off to another anbu. "You take it. I'm the captain. I don't have time to be running errands." As her subordinate left with the bag she turned back to Lee. "Lead us to them."

* * *

Tenten brandished her katana and dumped chakra into the blades. They glowed brightly as she threw them at Kakuzu, who raised an eyebrow when they both whizzed by his head, causing no damage.

"Where exactly are you aiming?" he asked.

Tenten yanked her hands backward and only then did Kakuzu realize she was pulling on chakra strings. The blades turned around in mid-air and screamed toward the fire using monster. Before Kakuzu could blink the monster was pierced through the middle of the mask. As it died Kakuzu glared at Tenten.

"You guys are starting to piss me off," he said in a low voice.

Tenten jumped straight up to avoid the new barrage of stone pillars only to be hit by a jutsu from the water monster. She coughed some blood as it nailed her in the stomach. She landed on the ground, rolling a few times before slamming into a tree.

"TENTEN!" Sasuke screamed.

Naruto ran up to his brother. "Go ahead and take care of her!" He turned to Kakuzu and his eyes changed to the purple and white of the Tamagan—the pupil was once again the slit it had become the last time he'd used the technique. It seemed to the others that the change to his doujutsu must be permanent. "I'll take care of _him_." He dropped the genjutsu that had been hiding his fangs. "Kazehana, I need your fire."

"Hai," Kazehana said as she stood next to her fighting partner.

"Sakura—check on Tenten," Naruto commanded.

"Nhm!" Sakura said before running to Tenten and Sasuke.

"You were barely holding me back with all of you and now you think that reducing your numbers is going to help?" Kakuzu said with amusement.

Hinata's hand was suddenly over Naruto's. "He's right. You need us," she said as Neji and Kakashi also stepped forward.

Naruto shook his head. "Trust me. This is gonna be dangerous."

Hinata's expression became worried. "You're not going to use the Sugikon Rasengan again are you?!"

"No. I wouldn't be able to get close enough for a hit. But I have an idea and I don't know what kind of damage it'll cause so I need you guys out of the way. Back me up okay?" Naruto said with a reassuring smile.

Kakashi gave Naruto a hard stare. "I'll let you try, but if it looks like you're in trouble I'll step in whether you want me to or not." Hinata and Neji joined him as he backed away enough that they would be out, he hoped, of the immediate blast zone but still close enough to help if needed.

"Alright, you bastard. Let's do this," Naruto said as he widened his stance.

"Alright then, freak, let's see what you can do with your little pet dragon," Kakuzu taunted.

"Pet?!" Kazehana said indignantly as her eye twitched. "I'll show you _pet_!" She took in a deep breath and fire blasted from her open mouth.

Kakuzu's earth monster put up a wall of dirt to protect him from the flames. "Is that all you can do?" Kakuzu said.

Kazehana gritted her teeth.

Naruto's hands glowed with chakra as he made several sugikon balls. "Use your fire on these!" He threw them at the dirt wall. Kazehana's fire hit them and nearly doubled the normal explosion.

Kakuzu jumped to avoid the debris when the dirt wall came down but his earth monster wasn't so lucky. Its mask shattered as easily as the wall.

Naruto smirked. "You only got one left now."

"I don't need more than one to deal with a brat like you!" Kakuzu said. The remaining monster opened its mouth and fired a giant ball of lighting at Naruto and Kazehana. At the same time many more of his joints became "unsewn" and he was quickly surrounded by a writhing mass of nasty looking black tentacles extending from his body.

Kazehana wasted no time on apologies as she grabbed Naruto's sides in her golden claws and flew him out of danger. She dodged left and right to avoid the tentacles as they attempted to pluck her and Naruto out of the sky. She performed a loop and Naruto had to shake off the slight wave of nausea that resulted.

"Kazehana, fly me in closer!" Naruto commanded.

As they got within thirty feet of his target Naruto's hands glowed with chakra. The glow got larger and took on the form of claws. He flung his arms upward and back, then snapped them forward as if slicing the air with the deadly blades.

When the chakra claws shot forward Sasuke, who was holding Tenten's hand while he waited for her to wake up, recognized the attack his brother was using. "That's...." he muttered as the image of those same chakra clawed hands attacking him flashed into his mind. The difference was this time they weren't red and Naruto had complete control over them.

Naruto made sure the clawed hands, which kept increasing in size in order to create the widest net possible, caught as much sugikon as they could on the way towards his target. The sugikon rapidly formed a white crust on the palms of the chakra hands. Kakuzu readied his monster and his tentacles for the coming attack, having no idea what was actually about to happen. To his surprise the hands didn't come directly at him but moved to his sides. They spread wide, and before Kakuzu had a chance to realize what was going on the hands clamped shut around him. When Naruto pulled them back Kakuzu was encased in a giant sugikon shell.

"Burn it!" Naruto commanded of his reptilian friend.

Kazehana had actually started her fire as soon as Naruto began speaking. She'd had a pretty good idea of what Naruto needed her to do since she'd acted as the ignition for similar attacks on several occasions. She blew out the largest fireball she had ever made in the human world. As soon as it hit an explosion rocked the area. On top of the dirt, rocks and other shrapnel that were being flung in all directions, the blast also sent out a shockwave that hit Kazehana and Naruto with the force of a freight train. They blacked out and both of them started the one hundred foot fall to the unforgiving ground below.

"NARUTO!" Hinata screamed.

"Naruto-nii-san!" Inari yelled.

"Shit!" Kakashi cursed. He bolted toward the falling pair, but he knew the only one he could catch was Naruto. Kazehana was simply too large. "Hinata! Neji! Get Kazehana!"

Hinata and Neji raced to Kazehana's falling form but they knew it was useless. There was no way they could safely catch a nearly five hundred pound dragon.

Neji's eyes widened as an idea came to him. "Hinata, soft Kaiten!" he yelled suddenly.

Hinata nodded and both cousins got into the proper stance. "Kaiten!" they said in unison.

Kazehana hit the whirling chakra, which sunk a little to absorb some of the shock, and bounced off it onto the ground. At the same time Kakashi leapt into the air and Naruto fell hard into his arms.

The cousins stopped their jutsu. Neji went to check on to the ebony dragon, while Hinata ran to Naruto. "Naruto-kun!"

Kakashi looked Naruto over and smiled beneath his mask. "He'll be fine," he said to Hinata. "Just a small concussion." He looked down at the blond in his arms and shook his head. "Twice in one day," he said with a sigh.

"Kazehana's right arm is broken, but she looks alright otherwise," Neji reported as he looked over the arm in question, which was bent at an unnatural angle.

Kakashi looked back to see what had become of Kakuzu. When he didn't see him right away he looked down at the ground where Kakuzu had been standing. Kakuzu was there...in pieces. _What a jutsu...._ Kakashi thought.

Naruto's eyes fluttered open. "Ugh."

Hinata flung her arms around her boyfriend's neck. "Naruto-kun!" she cried happily.

"Did...it work?" Naruto asked weakly.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "That would be an understatement. If your stomach feels even the slightest bit nauseous from being hit I would suggest you don't look at the ground much. It's a bit...messy."

Naruto's eyes widened a bit at that. He suddenly sat upright, regretting it slightly due to the way the movement made the world spin. "Kazehana-san!"

Hinata jumped up and ran to the fallen dragon, wincing at the condition of the broken arm. She used her medical jutsu to examine Kazehana. "She has a concussion and her arm is broken in two places. I...I can't fix it. I don't have the skill," she said, her voice filled with regret.

Kakashi looked up. "Sakura, is Tenten well enough for you to take a look at this?"

"Hai," Sakura replied, leaving Sasuke to watch over the weapons mistress. She gritted her teeth when she noticed that not only was the arm bent the wrong way, but part of the bone was glaring at her through an open wound near the break. "I can't do it either. I've never set a broken bone that was so severe."

Neji's expression was solemn. "And there's no way we can carry her back."

"Sakura, can you wake her so she can shape shift to her more manageable form?" Kakashi asked.

"I can try," Sakura replied. She laid her hands on the dragon's forehead and concentrated. After a moment Kazehana's eyes slowly opened.

The first thing Kazehana did was attempt to move but her broken arm protested and she howled in pain. She chanced a look to her arm and her expression became horrified. "Oh, Kami-sama!" She cried as tears rolled down her cheeks. Never in her life had she received an injury anywhere close to this and she was quite close to panic as seeing her bone sticking through her skin.

"Kazehana-san, calm down. If you get hysterical helping you will be a lot harder," Sakura said in a soothing tone.

As Kazehana forced herself to take deep breaths Naruto frowned and realized something for the first time; Kazehana had not been raised as a fighter. She hadn't been trained in pain tolerance or meditation techniques. She knew some jutsu but she'd obviously been taught without the expectation of her actually ever using it. Naruto suddenly felt bad for dragging her into the fight.

"Kazehana-san, I...." Naruto's words were cut off as he heard Lee's voice coming from his right.

"We're here!" Lee shouted as he and the anbu came into view. He stopped short, however, when he saw the scene before him. "Did you defeat him?!" he asked in shock.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, but now we need to take care of the wounded."

Lee and the anbu nodded and walked forward.

"Be careful where you step," Kakashi warned as he nodded toward the ground.

Lee made a face but managed to keep his lunch in his stomach.

"Are any of you medics?" Sakura asked.

A man stepped forward. "I am."

"Do you have any experience at fixing something like this?" Sakura asked while pointing to Kazehana's arm.

The medic raised an eyebrow. "Not on a dragon I haven't."

"Kazehana-san, can you shift to your human form?" Sakura asked hopefully.

Kazehana was obviously struggling to hold back tears, but she managed to answer in spite of the searing pain. "I don't know. But I will attempt it."

Sakura nodded and pulled a small square of fabric from her hip pack. She unfolded it to reveal a thin medical blanket and used it to cover Kazehana. "Hinata, can you help me dull the pain?"

"Hai," Hinata answered.

As Hinata and Sakura worked to numb her arm, Kazehana began to change shape. She did it slowly, one part at a time, saving the broken arm for last. As it began to change she screamed but continued on. At last the transformation was complete and her now human skin was covered in perspiration from the effort.

Hinata stroked the dragon's forehead. "Good job," she said with a warm smile.

The medic nin took a kunai out of the pouch on his hip and held out the handle to Kazehana. "Bite down on this and try to bare the pain," he instructed.

Kazehana nodded, fear evident on her face.

The medic examined the arm for a bit to determine the best motion to take. "Okay, on three. One...two...." He suddenly bent her arm back the right way with a sickening crack.

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Kazehana screamed around the kunai handle. Tears of pain streamed down her face.

Sakura held her hand. "Okay, okay. The worst is over. Shhhh. Just rest."

"Alright. We should take care of the others now," Hinata said.

Sakura nodded. "Go ahead. I'll finish up here." She looked toward Tenten. "She has a concussion, head wound, and some internal bleeding. I managed to stop the bleeding but you should still take care when lifting her. Inari-kun lost a finger. I've reattached it as best I could but Tsunade-sama should check over my work. Gai sensei and Naruto only have concussions, and Neji may have some pulled muscles."

Neji rolled his eyes. "I'm fine."

Sakura frowned but went back to her work.

Hinata helped the anbu move Gai onto a stretcher and then helped to lift Tenten. Once Tenten was on the stretcher Hinata used a clean white cloth to wipe some of the dried blood from the girl's mouth.

"Can I help?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

Hinata looked surprised for a moment but nodded. "Of course." She pointed toward the stretcher. "You take that end." As Sasuke grabbed onto the wooden poles at the rear of the stretcher Hinata picked up the front. "Kakashi-sensei, we're going ahead," she announced.

"Be careful," Kakashi said.

Hinata nodded. "Hai!" and with that she and Sasuke headed out.

"Kazehana, can you stand?" Sakura asked as two more anbu left carrying Gai.

Kazehana bit her lower bit her lower lip. Her expression said she really didn't want to walk, but she knew it would make it easier on everyone. "I think so." She gingerly got to her feet while pulling the medical blanket up with her, swaying a bit when she stood to her full height. Naruto and Neji steadied her. "I'm okay. The world just spun for a moment."

The anbu leader, who was the only anbu left at the scene, took off her vest and put it on Kazehana. "There," she said as she snapped it shut, "This should hold that blanket on you so you stay covered."

"Thank you," Kazehana said gratefully. She looked behind her. "Someone should wake Tomoyo-san," she said as Sakura put her arm in a sling.

Lee gently shook Tomoyo's shoulder. "Tomoyo-san, it's time to leave."

Tomoyo opened her eyes and looked around. "You won already?!"

Kakashi laughed. "Yes, love."

"Is everyone alive?" Tomoyo asked.

"So far," Neji answered.

Tomoyo stretched and stood up. "Well, I've pretty much fully recovered from our trip. I'll flash back ta Konoha and tell them you're coming. How many injured should I report?"

"Five—Gai sensei, Tenten, Inari, Kazehana, and Naruto. Tenten is the worst off. She had internal bleeding," Sakura said.

Tomoyo nodded. "Okay. I'll see you back at the village." She put her hand into the rabbit seal and was gone.

"I'll carry Kazehana," said the anbu leader as Inari walked over to the group. "It would be indecent for any of the men to carry her considering her outfit and Sakura needs her hands free in case someone needs medical attention."

"Agreed," Naruto said. "I'll carry Inari."

Kakashi shook his head. "You have a concussion. Not to mention you have to make your report to the daimyo."

"Oh, right. Sorry, I'm still getting used to this whole diplomat thing," Naruto said. "Let's go."

"Climb on my back," Lee said to Inari.

"Okay," Inari said as he did as instructed. "Thank you, everyone. You saved my life," he said with a grateful smile.

Naruto smiled also. "That's what friends do."

Kakashi collected Hidan's body, Lee put Inari on his back and the group left the field of battle. Naruto headed for town to speak with the Daimyo and the rest, to Konoha.

As Naruto began his run he laughed a little in spite of what had occurred. _Compared to this, the chuunin exam will be a piece of cake._

.........TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Oh dear. That took longer than I intended. Anywho. No cliffies and now that the battle is over I can write faster again. I am really dreading writing the chuunin exams in the future tho.

On the upside we have 3 new doujin pages on the deviantart page! :D COLAD-art-gallery dot deviantart dot com (Don't forget to remove the spaces and change the 'dots' to actual dots)

Hopefully the next update will be sooner. Later guys. -Songbird21


	37. Just One Scare

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 37

* * *

Naruto was definitely preoccupied as he leapt from tree to tree on his way to meet with the Daimyo. As he moved his thoughts dwelled on his father and the conversation they'd had. He had been so sure that it was real but now he wondered if it were possible that it was just a very vivid dream. _Tou-san...was it really you?_

He reactivate the genjutsu to hide his teeth and entered the city limits.

* * *

Tazuna's throat tightened in worry when he saw only Naruto returning with his grandson nowhere in sight. "Naruto-kun!" he called out as he waved at the blonde.

"Tazuna!" Naruto said with a smile.

Tazuna's face lit up with hope. "You seem happy—does that mean....?"

Naruto nodded. "Inari's alive." His face fell a little. "He's hurt though. One of the enemy ninja cut off his right pinky finger." Ignoring Tazuna's shocked expression he continued. "Sakura reattached it but the finger could still die."

Tazuna pressed his lips together and closed his eyes as he let out a long breath to compose himself. "Where is he?"

"Sakura and the others took him back ta Konoha to let my mom have a look at his finger. You came come to Konoha with me when I'm done here," Naruto said.

Tazuna nodded. "Arigato, Naruto-kun." He smiled. "You're making a habit of saving my family."

Naruto chuckled. "You're welcome. I'll be right back. Gotta make my report and then we can get outta here."

* * *

"Arigato, Naruto-kun. You have done my country a great service. I'm pleased you were also able to save your friend. But most of all, you prevented my son from being kidnapped—and now I have the chance to do things right," Kyoha said, his voice filled with gratitude.

"Is he here?" Naruto asked as he glanced around the room.

"He is with his adoptive family for the moment. Once we've concluded our business I will explain everything to him and ask his family to move into the palace." Kyoha picked up a small scroll and handed it to Naruto.

"What's this?" Naruto asked with a curious expression.

"It's a letter to your mother expressing how pleased I am at your diplomacy skills. You did well, and I think you will make a fine Hokage one day," Kyoha said with a warm smile.

Naruto pumped his fist into the air and whooped loudly. "YES!!" He calmed down quickly when he realized how his behavior might look to his host. "Gomen."

Kyoha chuckled. "It's fine. Training or no training, you're still fourteen."

Naruto bowed. "Arigato."

"Narumi-san," Kyoha called out.

Narumi poked her head in. "Hai?"

"Please pay Naruto for his services."

Narumi nodded and disappeared for a moment before returning with an envelope. She handed it to Naruto, bowed to him slightly, and left the room.

"I hope to see you again one day, Naruto. You are an extraordinary young man," Kyoha said with a warm smile.

Naruto smiled in kind. "And you as well, Daimyo-sama."

* * *

Tazuna looked sideways at Naruto for the fifth time. His traveling companion had been uncharacteristically quiet and it was starting to unnerve him. "Neh, Naruto-kun. You okay?"

Naruto seemed to come out of a trance. "Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about some things."

"Anything I could help with?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nah. Thanks, though."

Tazuna nodded. "Of course."

* * *

Tsunade looked up from her examination of Inari's finger and smiled. "You did an excellent job, Sakura. His finger will be fine."

Inari breathed a sigh of relief.

Sakura beamed with pride. "Arigato, shishou."

"Gai and Neji are fine. The only one I'm still concerned about is Tenten," Tsunade said with a frown.

Sakura lost her smile. "She still hasn't woken up?"

"Um, I'm gonna wait for my grandpa in the hall," Inari announced just before leaving the room.

Tsunade was grateful for Inari's gesture and waited until the door closed to continue. She noticed the dejected look on her student's face. "It's nothing you did, Sakura. As far as I can see, she should be waking up."

"Is Sasuke still in there?"

Tsunade smiled sadly. "He hasn't left her side."

* * *

Ten hours later Tazuna stepped through the doors of Konoha hospital to see his Grandson sitting in the waiting room. "Inari!" he called out.

Inari looked up from the bench he was sitting on. "Grandpa!" He ran to Tazuna and hugged him tightly.

"My precious grandson," Tazuna said as tears made their way to his eyes. He then released the hug and looked at Inari's finger, frowning at the red scar line that surrounded the injury site.

"I'll be okay, Grandpa. Tsunade-sama said I won't lose my finger," Inari said with a reassuring smile. He turned to Naruto. "Arigato, Naruto-nii-san," he said as he hugged the older boy.

Tazuna smiled happily. "We should get home. You're mother is very worried," he said to Inari.

Inari broke the hug and nodded. "Hai. Ja na."

"Ja," Naruto replied.

Once they were out of sight Naruto asked the front desk where his brother was.\

* * *

Sasuke looked to the door to see if anyone was coming. Once he was satisfied there was no one around he reached forward and stroked Tenten's cheek. "Please wake up," he whispered softly. He wanted so badly to see her open her eyes. The only girl he had ever been even remotely interested in was potentially close to death and it made his stomach tighten to the point where he felt him sick.

"I...I still haven't told you everything. I haven't told you all my feelings...please," Sasuke said as his eyes misted over.

Suddenly an alarm sounded and Sasuke whipped his head to the side to see the heart monitor had none of the small pulses on it that had been there a moment ago. "NO!!" He bolted for the door and opened it in one swift motion. "HELP!! I need help in here NOW!!"

* * *

Naruto was on his way to Tenten's room when his mother and four other medical staff suddenly blew by him. He ran after her and quickly caught up. "What's going on?"

"Tenten's flat-lining!" Tsunade replied shortly.

Naruto's eyes widened. "What?!" He joined Tsunade in making short work of the lengthy hallway and they burst through the door of Tenten's room to find Sakura already working feverishly on healing her friend.

"What happened?!" Tsunade demanded as the medical cart was quickly rolled up to Tenten's bed.

"I don't know! I can't find what's wrong!" Sakura replied in a panic as she moved out of the way to allow Tsunade access.

Tsunade's expression twisted in confusion as she moved her glowing hands over Tenten's body. _This doesn't make any sense! What the hell is going on?!_

Sakura grabbed the defibrillator paddles and put them on Tenten's chest. "Clear!" she said. The paddles charged to life and Tenten's body jumped from the shock. A faint heartbeat bounced on the green line of the heart monitor.

Tsunade turned to one of the nurses. "Get me Hyuuga Hinata! NOW!"

A minute later Hinata came running into the room, her byakugan already activated, and looked Tenten over. Suddenly she pointed to her stomach. "There! Her chakra veins in her stomach have been pinched closed!"

"How in the hell...?" Tsunade questioned in shock.

"Can you fix that?!" Sasuke asked desperately, his eyes wide pleading with the teenaged Hyuuga.

"I can try!" Hinata said quickly. Her hands glowed green and she got to work. _How did they do this? __**When**__ did they do this?!_

Sasuke paced impatiently. He was furious with himself for not being able to help and the wait was making it worse. He couldn't look at Tenten. He was afraid if he did he might lose it.

Sweat rolled down Hinata's forehead as she pushed herself as hard as she could to pull off something that she had _not_ been trained to do. She pushed her Byakugan further and suddenly noticed that the reason she could not open the chakra veins was that they were sewn closed...with microscopic black tendrils.

Naruto kept an eye on Sasuke, watching for any signs that he might crack. He put a hand on his shoulder. "Just hang on Nii-san. Hina-chan can do this. I know she can."

Sasuke barely heard his younger brother. _Kami-sama, please._

Hinata had set to work on snapping the tendrils. It was slow going but she was making progress. Once the tendrils were gone she re-inflated the veins with a bit of her own chakra. Finally she stood up and faced the group of onlookers. "She...should be fine...now...." she said in-between heavy breaths before collapsing to the floor unconscious.

"Hina-chan!" Naruto cried as he ran to her. He cradled her in his arms as Tsunade checked her pulse.

Tsunade stood up with a smile. "She's alright. Just exhausted."

Once Sasuke saw Hinata was alright he walked over to Tenten, scooped up her hand and held it tight. He looked with grateful tears in his eyes at Hinata's sleeping form. "I wish I could thank her," he said softly to Naruto.

Naruto smiled. "You can when she wakes up," he said as he stroked Hinata's forehead. He was so proud of her. "I'm gonna take her to an empty bed till she wakes up." He lifted her and smiled at Sasuke before leaving the room.

Everyone turned their head in Tenten's direction when they heard a faint moan. Sasuke sat down on the chair next to her bed. "Tenten?"

Tenten managed to force her eyes open. "Sasuke?" She looked at the group of people around her. "What happened?"

Tsunade fielded the question. "Apparently at some point one of your attackers closed off the chakra veins in your stomach. Somehow Hinata managed to repair the damage. She's resting in another room."

"How did they do something like that?" Tenten asked.

Tsunade shook her head. "I have no idea. We'll have to wait until Hinata wakes up and ask her." She clamped a hand on Tenten's arm. "Glad to see you awake," she said with a smile.

Tenten returned the smile. "Arigato."

Tsunade stood straighter. "Alright everyone, let's leave so she can get some rest."

"May I stay a little longer, Tsunade-sama?" Sasuke asked, his eyes pleading.

Tsunade smiled. "For a few minutes."

Once they were gone Sasuke turned back to face Tenten. "How do you feel?"

"Like hell, but I'll live," she said with a bemused smile. "Sorry for scaring you like that."

Sasuke was surprised. "How do you know what happened?"

"I don't, but I do know there wouldn't have been so many doctors and nurses in here if I hadn't almost died," Tenten replied with a grimace.

Sasuke swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I couldn't help you. All I could do was stand there and wait," Sasuke answered with a frown.

Tenten smiled. "You're not a medic. I wouldn't expect you to be able to heal me. It's okay."

Sasuke looked out the window for a moment and then turned back. "Tenten, there's something...." He sighed. "Something I need to tell you."

Tenten cocked her head a little. "Hm?"

"You remember what we talked about after I punched Neji?"

Tenten's cheeks took on a slight tinge of pink. "Yeah."

"I didn't tell you everything. And when I thought you could die the idea that I hadn't bothered me. I'm not really good at this kind of stuff, but I love you." He ignored Tenten's wide eyes. "If you want me to leave I understand. I'm not exactly the most sensitive guy in the world and I have problems keeping my anger under control and...." His words were cut off when Tenten pulled his head down to hers and captured his lips in a crushing kiss.

Tenten's mind was spinning with delight as she kissed Sasuke the way she'd been wanting to for weeks. Her body was alive with electricity. She felt happy and warm. Finally she pushed his head back and smirked. "You talk too damn much."

Sasuke smiled and kissed her again. For the first time in his life he looked forward to the future and saw how bright it could be.

.........TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

They are so fun to write. :)

Well, it could have been worse. It could have taken me 2 months to get this out again. ((Sweatdrop)) Sorry this is so short but it was this or make you guys wait another week. :(

Please review. I love reviews. :)


	38. It Wasn't a Dream

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 38

* * *

Tsunade walked in to the room Hinata was in, saw her sitting up, and smiled. "You look like you're feeling better," she remarked cheerfully.

Hinata smiled sleepily. "Hai. Just a little tired."

"Hey, Kaa-san," Naruto greeted from his place in the chair next to Hinata's bedside.

"Naruto, I need you to come with me to Kazehana's room," Tsunade said, her tone suddenly serious.

* * *

"So what's up?" Naruto asked his mother as she led him down the hall.

"Kazehana's father is here," Tsunade replied.

Naruto looked at Tsunade with concern. "Why?"

"I'm not sure. But I would guess it has something to do with today's events."

Naruto was very nervous. He had no idea what was going to happen, but he was fairly sure that it wouldn't be good.

They took a left and continued until they got to the end of the hall. When they opened the door Naruto saw a man who looked to be in his mid-fifties, with a long, white beard, green eyes and the same blue gem in his forehead as his daughter. He wore a long black Kimono with curls of smoke painted in white along the front panels. He carried himself with an air of authority as he walked toward Naruto.

"So this is the young man responsible for my daughter's current condition," he said with an even stare.

"Dad" Kazehana snapped. It was obvious she disapproved of her father's words.

"Young lady, you will be silent!" the older dragon said with a firm tone.

Kazehana glared at her father but said nothing else.

Tsunade spoke up. "Naruto, this is Soyokaze--Kazehana's father."

Naruto swallowed and bowed deeply. "It's an honor to meet you Soyokaze-san," he said with a bit of nervousness in his voice.

Soyokaze seemed to relax a bit but his face remained stern. "Tsunade-sama has told me what happened in the Country of the Wave. When I agreed to allow you to be my daughter's subordinate I told her she was not to attempt battle until she had completed her fight training. Were you aware of this, Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes went wide. "No, Sir. I had no idea." He bowed again. "I'm very sorry."

Soyokaze seemed to consider this for a moment. "You seem like a good young man, but even so I must tell you that I am here to take her home and she will not be returning to you for several months."

Naruto looked dismayed. "But...."

Soyokaze put his hand up to stop Naruto from speaking. "That is my decision. She is not ready for this. That she was hurt this badly is proof enough. I will be assigning you another of my clan until Kazehana has completed her training."

Naruto sighed. "I won't interfere in what you wanna do, but can I say something?"

The old dragon cocked an eyebrow. He wasn't used to his decisions being 'debated'. "I suppose."

"Kazehana hasn't finished her training, but from day one she's been a great battle partner. She's good at knowing what I need her to do, thinking on her feet, and she even saved my life once. Yeah, she got hurt bad, but that's always a danger--even if you're a good fighter." Naruto paused a moment. "I guess what I'm saying is--please try not to be too hard on her," he finished with a downcast look in his eyes.

Soyokaze sighed but offered Naruto a small smile. "I will take your words into consideration." He turned to his daughter. "It's time to go."

"Yes, dad. Can I say goodbye?" Kazehana asked quietly.

"Of course," Soyokaze said graciously.

Kazehana rose from the bed and stood before Naruto. "I'm really sorry about all this. I should've told you about my training."

Naruto smiled. "That's okay. Hurry up and finish so you can come back." He gave her a quick hug and Kazehana moved to stand next to her father.

"Ja," Kazehana said quietly.

Soyokaze gave a final nod of farewell and the two vanished in a puff of smoke.

Tsunade gave Naruto's shoulder a squeeze. "Don't worry--she'll be back," she said with a smile.

Naruto nodded. "I know."

* * *

"Hey, Hina-chan," Naruto said as he gave Hinata a kiss on the forehead.

"Hello," Hinata replied with a sleepy smile.

Tsunade pulled a second chair next to the bedside, swiveled it around and sat down, resting her arms on the chair back. "You feel up to giving a report?"

Hinata nodded. "Hai." She sat up a little straighter. "When we were fighting Kakuzu he had some strange black tendrils he used to fight us and to...sew some of his body parts on," she said with wince. "Somehow during the fight he managed to use the tendrils to sew the veins in Tenten-san's stomach shut."

"What?!" Tsunade exclaimed.

"When did he have time? I never saw him even _touch_ her stomach," Naruto said.

Hinata's eyes flashed wide. "When he hit her with that water jutsu!"

"Huh?" Naruto questioned.

"He must have embedded t-tiny pieces of those tendrils into the water, and when it hit her...." Hinata said.

"...the tendrils attacked," Tsunade finished with a frown. She stood and stretched a bit. "I'm assuming they're keeping you overnight for observation?" she asked Hinata.

"Hai. Father will be picking me up in the morning," Hinata replied.

"Rest well. You deserve it," Tsunade said with a small smile. "In the meantime, I have an annoying talking head in my jail that needs my personal attention," she said dryly.

Naruto snickered. "I'm gonna stay with Hina-chan."

"Naruto-kun, you don't have to. I'm fine," Hinata said with a bit of pink on her cheeks.

Naruto smiled and lovingly touched her cheek. "I know. But I just feel better if I'm here to make sure."

Hinata smiled.

"Well, I'll leave you two love birds alone. Night, brat," Tsunade said to Naruto as she tousled his hair.

"Night, Kaa-san," Naruto replied.

Tsunade left the room, and Naruto and Hinata attempted to get some sleep.

* * *

A lot of thoughts swam in Naruto's mind as he tried to sleep on the cot he'd been given by one of the nurses--the battle, Tenten's brush with death...but the thought that was now at the forefront of his mind was his father. Had he really seen him? As he closed his eyes and thought about their very short conversation a strong yearning pulled on his heart.

After roughly twenty minutes of watching the clouds drift over the full moon out the window he got an idea. He stood up and checked on Hinata. Smiling in satisfaction at the steady rise and fall of her chest, he tenderly stroked her cheek and left the room.

* * *

In the moonlit hospital courtyard Naruto sat under a large tree and sat down, folding his legs underneath himself. He slowed his breathing and closed his eyes. Within seconds he was in the prison dream scape of the seal. For a moment he didn't dare open his eyes. He was afraid that if he did he would be proven wrong.

He slowly cracked one eye open to see his father leaning against the wall of Kyuubi's cage, smirking at him in amusement.

"So? Are you just gonna sit there all day?" Minato teased.

Naruto's eyes opened completely. Grinning wider than he ever had in his life, he jumped up, ran to his father and threw his arms around him. He felt as though his heart might explode from the sheer level of joy he felt. "Tou-san!"

Minato put his arms around his son, closed his eyes and sighed in contentment. "Naruto," he said softly. "My boy."

"I wasn't dreaming. You're really here," Naruto said as the tears began to flow. He wanted to stay in the moment for as long as he could. So this was what it was like to be hugged by a father. Now that he knew what he had been missing out on he thought of his younger years with renewed disdain.

Minato smiled. "Yeah." He released the hug and pushed Naruto back a bit. "Let me get a good look at you. You're so tall! How old are you now?"

Naruto sniffed and wiped his eyes. "Almost fifteen."

Minato's eyes misted over. "So much--I've missed so much. I...I'm so sorry for not being there for you."

Naruto was silent for a moment before speaking. "I was angry at you at first--angry you stuck me with the Kyuubi and then left me all alone. I even didn't know my real last name till I turned fourteen." He let out a relaxing sigh. "But when Kaa-san told me...."

Minato got a strange look on his face and cut him off. "Your mother? Naruto, that's impossible. She...she died in my arms," he said with a tightness in his throat.

Naruto winced. "Not my real mom. I got adopted last year," he explained with a small smile.

Minato's eyebrows rose. "Really? By who?"

Naruto's smile brightened. "Tsunade."

Minato's face split into a wide smile. "I'm glad it's her. She's like an older sister to me." His expression changed to one of confusion. "But I wonder why she took so long to do it."

"She didn't know I was your son until a couple days before I did. Jiraiya had told her I died," Naruto said with an irritated frown.

Minato's face mirrored his son's. "I remember now. It was the old man's idea. I had a lot of enemies so he convinced me it was best. Anyway, what did Tsunade tell you?"

"Hm? Oh. She told me you did it to protect me and to save everyone. So...now I'm not angry anymore. I'm just happy to see you," he said as a few more tears made their way down his face. He thought it best to leave out the fact that he had already taken his feelings out on Jiraiya.

Minato smiled. "Let's go somewhere a little less depressing." The scenery around them rippled and changed to the field they'd been in the first time he had appeared to Naruto. "Much better."

"So how did you get here anyway? I remember you said it was cause of what Orochimaru did but...." Naruto began as they sat down on the grass.

"To be more precise, it was because Kyuubi died. My deal with the death god was that he would hold on to my soul in exchange for sealing Kyuubi. When Kyuubi died the deal was no longer valid so the death God released me." Minato looked around. "I'm not completely sure why I'm here instead of in the afterlife, but it could be something to do with the connection created by the seal."

Naruto seemed to consider this for a moment. He was about to comment when his father said something else.

"You know...it's odd," Minato said with a confused expression as he looked around the area. "Kyuubi's not here but I still sense an abnormal chakra."

Naruto looked at Minato. "That would be my chakra."

Minato's confusion had now increased by several levels but his expression was slowly taken over by a look of concern. "What's happened to you?"

Naruto put up a hand. "I'm okay, tou-san." He sighed. "This is gonna take some time to explain."

Minato cocked an eyebrow. "Don't let me stop you."

* * *

The next morning Ino, Chouji and Nao were sparring in preparation for the chuunin exam when Kurenai stalked up to them in a huff. They could feel killing intent pouring off the woman. "Have any of you seen my idiot husband?"

All three teenagers quickly shook their heads.

Kurenai sighed angrily and walked off in a new direction. Once she was out of sight Ino noticed Asuma's head slowly emerge from behind a tree.

"Asuma-sensei?"

Asuma's finger immediately went to his lips. "Shhhh! She's trying to get me to have a family photo taken!"

It was well known in the village that Asuma hated getting his picture taken with a burning passion and so Ino snickered in understanding.

"Why not?" Nao asked with a shrug. "It's pretty painless."

"Have you seen pictures of me?" Asuma whispered loudly. "It's amazing I haven't broken every camera in Konoha." He folded his arms defiantly. "And it doesn't count as a family photo if our child isn't born yet." Suddenly the killing intent that had been felt earlier was back and right behind Asuma.

"Oh really?" Kurenai growled.

Asuma's face wore a sheepish, fear laden smile as he turned around to face his wife. "Y-Yo...love."

"Don't you 'love' me. You'll have that picture taken or I'll make you hold my hand while I give birth." She moved her face in menacingly. "And you _know_ how strong my grip is."

Images of crushed fingers running through his head made Asuma quickly change his tune. "Okay okay!"

Kurenai grabbed Asuma's hand and pulled him away.

Chouji shook his head slowly. "Poor Asuma-sensei."

Ino cocked an eyebrow and folded her arms. "Serves him right for trying to get out of doing something important."

Nao chose to stay out of it. In her opinion it was better not to take sides. "Why don't we get back to training? I wanna be our best for the exam," she said cheerfully.

Ino's expression flickered with mild annoyance but she nodded anyway. "Sure." But they were interrupted yet again when they were approached by a rather annoyed looking Shikamaru.

"Have you guys seen Naruto? Godaime-sama is looking for him," he asked dully.

Ino smirked. "Have you tried Hinata's hospital room?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "That was the first place I checked."

* * *

The late morning sun had finally managed to creep over the edge of the buildings making up the hospital courtyard and lit up Naruto's face. He stirred slightly but did not come out of his trance.

* * *

Minato leaned against a large tree, his arms folded in thought. Finally he sighed heavilly and shook his head. "Wow."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

"So the chakra change is definitely permanent?"

Naruto nodded again.

"How are you handling it?" Minato asked with a frown. He knew his son would've had trouble just dealing with his family's extreme chakra levels without him but to add even more to that--he couldn't even imagine what Naruto had been through.

"Well, it was pretty hard for about six months. In fact it almost killed me," Naruto replied with a grimace.

Minato's eyebrows knitted together in concern. "How? Are you still in danger?"

"I'm okay now, but in the beginning it was destroying my chakra system cause of the overflow. Kaa-san helped me fix it though. She taught me Souzou saisei so I could heal myself and get rid of the extra at the same time."

Minato visibly relaxed. "As long as you're alright." A thought occurred to him and he looked off to the skyline. "Hey, I just thought of this. I know I don't really have the right to ask it considering what you've been through lately, but...."

"What?" Naruto prodded.

"I'd like to talk to Tsunade, but to do that I'd need to take over your body for a little bit. If you don't want to let me I understand. It would probably even make me uncomfortable."

"It's okay Tou-san. I don't mind," Naruto replied with a smile.

Minato grinned. "She's going to have a heart attack."

* * *

Shikamaru pursed his lips in annoyance and shook Naruto for the third time. "Oi! Get up! I don't have time for this."

Naruto groaned and his eyes fluttered open. "Shikamaru? What's up?" he asked as he stretched his joints

"Tsunade-sama's been looking for you for over an hour," Shikamaru answered with a frown.

Naruto yawned. "Oh. That's good actually. I need to see her anyway."

* * *

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork when she heard the knock on the door. "Come in."

Naruto walked in and stood in front of the desk. "Hey, Kaa-san."

Tsunade stood up. "Well it's about damn time."

"What'd you need me for?" Naruto asked.

"You have paperwork to do," Tsunade replied, waving her hand over the stack of papers on her desk.

Naruto smiled. "I think you're gonna wanna wait on that."

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Naruto's hands came together. "Henge!" There was a puff of smoke and Naruto became a perfect replica of Minato.

Tsunade frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Hey, Tsunade," said Minato. "It's been a long time."

Now Tsunade looked angry. "Naruto, this isn't funny."

Minato's face became serious. "It's really me, Tsunade. This isn't a joke. When Kyuubi died the death god let go of my soul, and for some reason I haven't figured out yet, it was transferred into the seal. Naruto is letting me use his body so I can talk to you."

Tsunade's eyes widened but she still looked skeptical. "Okay then. If you're really Minato then you know how long Jiraiya and I dated."

Minato cocked an amused eyebrow. "Oh please, Tsunade. You wouldn't date Jiraiya. You decked him every time he tried to ask you out."

Tsunade's eyes watered. "Minato-kun!" She laughed in joy and pulled him into a crushing hug. "I never dreamed I would see you again in this life!"

"Tsunade, stop hugging so tight, you're going to kill Naruto," Minato gasped.

Tsunade released her grip. "Sorry," she said as she wiped her eyes.

"So you're Hokage now. I never figured you for the leader type," Minato commented with a wry smile.

Tsunade smiled in kind. "Well, you have your son to thank for that one."

"Oh?"

"He has the same power you did--The power to make people believe in him," Tsunade said wistfully.

Minato grinned. "That's good to hear. How's Jiraiya?"

"Perverted as usual," Tsunade said with a laugh. She sighed and her expression turned serious. "Now I know you wouldn't have asked your son to hand over control of his body unless it were something important. So what's going on?"

Minato sighed. "This may sound trivial to you at first, but hear me out." He sat down in the chair in front of Tsunade's desk. "Naruto told me that most of the villagers don't know who he is."

Tsunade nodded. "Sandaime-sama felt it was best. He thought it would keep Naruto safe from your enemies."

"Naruto is almost fifteen and very capable of defending himself. I want you to tell the village who he really is."

Tsunade's expression became uneasy. "Are you sure that's a good idea? He already has Akatsuki after him."

Minato nodded. "It's time, Tsunade."

Tsunade sighed. "Alright. I guess it's your decision."

Minato put a reassuring hand on Tsunade's shoulder. "He'll be fine. He's my son after all."

Tsunade nodded. "Alright. But after the chuunin exams. I don't want his lineage tainting the results."

"That's reasonable. Well, I think I'll let my son have his body back," Minato said with a chuckle.

"It was good seeing you again," Tsunade said as she gave him another hug.

"You too," Minato broke the hug and canceled the henge, leaving Naruto in his place.

"You heard what we said?" Tsunade asked her son.

Naruto nodded.

"What do you think?"

Naruto thought for a moment. "I think it'll be nice not to hafta hide who my parents are anymore."

Tsunade smiled. "I suppose it would be. Why don't we go get some lunch? Work can wait for now."

Naruto smiled and the two left the office.

* * *

The days seemed to fly by and suddenly the Chuunin exam was only a week away. Naruto was getting edgier and edgier as time went on. He was determined to pass this time. And the pressure was starting to take its toll. "Dammit!" Naruto swore at the bottle of ibuprofrin in his hand.

Hinata looked up from where she was reading on Tsunade's couch. "What's the matter?"

"This stupid child-proof cap!" Naruto growled as he cranked it sideways and it stubbornly continued to click in defiance.

Hinata sighed. She'd gotten used to his outburst over the last few weeks. She simply stood up, walked over to Naruto, casually took the bottle and opened it. "If you'd just calm down you wouldn't get so frustrated."

Naruto sighed--half in frustration from Hinata so easily opening the bottle and half because she was right. "Sorry, Hina-chan. I'm just really nervous about the exams. I can't let Gaara stay ahead of me."

Hinata smiled. "I know. And you'll make it this time. I have faith in you," she said as she gave him a hug.

Naruto smiled. "What would I do without you?"

Hinata giggled. "I don't know."

"I'd be miserable, that's what," Naruto said just before kissing her.

* * *

The morning of the Chuunin exam was a mess of wind and rain. Naruto yawned as he looked out the window. _Perfect_ he thought with a groan. _The exam is being held in the village of rain so today it rains._ He threw off the covers. "Dammit I hate ironic crap."

The knock on his bedroom door made Naruto's muscles tense in annoyance. "You gotta be fricking kidding me. I haven't even taken a leak yet," he grumbled as he headed to the door. He opened it to find Sakura waiting for him. "Whaaat?" he whined.

Sakura held back a giggle when she saw his bed hair. "Kakashi wants us to run a few drills before we leave for the exam."

Naruto groaned. "I've been training my ass off for the last two weeks. You can tell Kakashi to piss off," he said groggily as rain pelted the side of the house.

Sakura shook her head. "Okay, but he's not gonna like it." She smiled. "You ready to be a chuunin?"

"SHHH!! You're gonna jinx all of us!" Naruto hissed.

Izumi suddenly came into view. "Excuse me, Naruto-sama, breakfast will be ready in ten minutes."

Naruto sighed. "Thanks, Izumi-san. I'll be down soon."

Izumi nodded with a smile and left.

"Well, Sasuke-kun and I are gonna be training till noon so feel free to join us if you change your mind," Sakura said.

"Probably not but thanks anyways," Naruto replied with a yawn.

"Ja," Sakura said with a wave.

"Ja," Naruto replied. As soon as Sakura was out of sight Naruto headed for the bathroom.

* * *

There was a knock on Naruto's bedroom door and he looked up from packing some clothes into his backpack. "Yeah?"

"Kakashi's here," Tsunade said as she opened the door. "You about set, gaki?"

Naruto sighed. "I guess so."

Tsunade smiled. "Don't worry. I have a very good feeling about the exams."

"Thanks, Kaa-san," Naruto said with an appreciative smile.

"Why don't you head on downstairs. Izumi packed you a lunch for the trip."

"Aren't you coming?"

"Of course I am you dipstick--but I need to wait for my escort," Tsunade replied with an expression of displeasure.

Naruto laughed. "Like you need one."

"Try telling that to the village elders," Tsunade said with a roll of her eyes. "Now get going. I'll see you there."

Naruto nodded and left to join his team.

* * *

"It's about time, dobe," Sasuke said as Naruto came out the front door.

"Shut up," Naruto replied shortly as he hoisted his bag higher up on his shoulder.

"Enough bickering," Kakashi said. "If you're going to pass the exams this time you'll need to work as a team." He waited a moment for his words to sink in. "Alright. Let's move out." And with that, team Kakashi began their journey to Amegakure........

.........TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Almost 4000 words so a decent length. I'm not massively happy about this chapter, mainly because of all the little scenes (Such as the bit with the child-proof cap) that really had no point to them except to add length.

Before anyone asks. No--Minato will not be playing body-snatcher on a regular basis. In fact in may be a one time thing. And someone sent me a review saying that they "Could see the 'good' Naruto vs 'bad' Naruto fight happening". I assure you that will NOT happen. And there will not be an evil Naruto kidnapping good Naruto and taking his place.

I don't know when the next chapter will come. Hopefully it won't take more than 3 weeks but I'm currently recovering from a major relapse of my depressive disorder so I'm taking things one day at a time.


	39. Let the Games Begin

Colors of Life and Death series  
Truth in Dreams  
by Songbird21

Chapter 39

* * *

A large group of genin stood in a clearing near a large group of mountains a few miles outside of Amegakuru. A female Ame jounin stood facing the group, a clipboard in her hand. "The Amekage sends his regrets for not being here. He had business to attend to," she said. She paused to clear her throat. "This is where you show us what you're really made of. You've all passed the information-gathering part of the exam and shown your fighting prowess in the arena. Now it's time to demonstrate your leadership skills."

Naruto's stomach was twisting into knots but at the same time he was excited. Somehow he had a feeling he was going to pass this time.

"This will be different than previous chuunin exam finals. They have finally been changed to make sure leadership skills are focused on. You will be divided into two groups. Each group will be given a base to defend and will be accompanied by a jounin examiner. Your goal is to capture the scroll hidden in the other team's base. If your team loses the exercise you still have a chance to become a chuunin. We are looking at your performance during the exercise-winning is not a requirement but we do ask that you try your best. The box next to me contains blue and green cubes. The color cube you pull indicates the team you will be on. Please form a line and take one cube from the box." The jounin stepped to one side and the genin stepped up.

One by one they all took a cube and when the selection process was over Sakura looked longingly at Lee, who was not on her team. Her team did consist, however, of Sasuke, Kiba, Shino, Kankuro, Nao and Chouji. On the other side were Naruto, Lee, Hinata, Ino, Tenten, Temari and Neji. Both teams also had an assortment of genin from other countries.

The Ame jounin unfolded a map and laid it out on a stone table in the center of the clearing. "Blue team, you will be in the base on the east side of the mountains," she said as she handed a copy of the map to Kankuro. "Green team, your base is in the foothills on the west side of the mountains," she said as she handed the other copy of the map to Naruto. "This exam will require not only leadership skills, but teamwork as well. The exam will continue until one team is the victor. You have two hours to reach your base, secure it and come up with a plan of attack. Have one person stand guard outside to watch for the flare that will signal the start of the exam. Good luck and you may now head for your base."

The genin all nodded and began to move out.

* * *

"So when do we make our move?" Kisame asked his leader.

Pein looked at his subordinate. "When Tobi lets us know Naruto is in a situation where we can capture him without too much trouble."

Kisame cocked an eyebrow. "It's not like we can't take out a bunch of genin."

"You're forgetting all the jounin here right now. Not to mention the Kages. And many of the shinobi taking the exam may be genin in rank but are nearly jounin in power," Pein replied.

Kisame sighed. "I just prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around. It's not my style." He glanced backward at his sword. "Besides, Samehada hasn't had anything to snack on in days."

* * *

"What a dump!" Kiba complained as he looked over the blue team's 'base'. It was a cave nearly two hundred feet up the side of a cliff that had been outfitted with a large wooden door.

Kankuro stepped forward. "It doesn't matter what it looks like as long as we defend it well."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said as he stalked off through the entrance.

The examiner shook his head and scribbled something on the paper on his clipboard as the rest of the team went to check out the inside of their base.

* * *

"It's certainly not much," said a female mist genin with dark green hair as she stared at the heavy wooden door situated in the side of the large hill.

Naruto grinned. "Doesn't matter, cuz we're gonna kick ass!"

The team walked into the base and a male genin with an orange swirled mask and an Ame village headband walked up next to jounin examiner. "He's an interesting person," he remarked.

"Agreed," said the examiner with a smile. "You'd better get inside, uhhh.…" she said as she looked through her list of team members, "...Tobi."

Tobi nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Kiba would have _killed_ to see what the examiner was scribbling on his notepad. He couldn't help but wonder if his earlier outburst had cost him some points. He glanced at him one more time and turned back to the conversation at hand. "Sasuke should be the lookout."

Sasuke glared at him. He felt being a lookout was a waste of his skills. "And why's that?"

"Because you have the sharingan," Kiba said as though it should have been obvious.

Shino decided to put a stop to the debate before it became a pissing contest. "My bugs will be the lookouts. There are many of them, which will give us an advantage."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "You should send them out now then."

Shino nodded and raised his arms level. Bugs flooded out of his sleeves and left for the outside of the base.

* * *

Naruto glanced around the cement room they were in. They had had to take several tunnels to get to it so he knew the maze effect of it all would offer at least some protection from invaders. "We should set up some traps outside and then decide on how we want ta set up the guard rotation," he said to the entire group.

Tobi nodded. "Sounds good to me," he said in a voice that seemed a little gruff for his age.

A female Mist genin cocked an eyebrow. "I think we should decide who our leader is before anyone makes suggestions," she said with a warning tone.

Naruto frowned. "We're supposed to be working together."

The Mist genin folded her arms. "How are leadership skills supposed to be shown if no one is chosen to be leader?"

"I think the point is to see who emerges as the leader type, not to vote on leaders right out of the gate," Temari said.

A Rock genin nodded in agreement. "I think blondie here.…"

Naruto interrupted. "Naruto," he said with a slightly insulted expression at being called 'blondie'.

"Sorry. I think Naruto has a good starting plan at least," The Rock genin finished up.

Nods of agreement were seen from all members of the team and so even the Mist genin sighed in capitulation.

* * *

Nao frowned at the darkening sky. "Shouldn't they have started it by now?" she asked Sasuke as they stood outside, watching the horizon.

"They're probably going to wait till first light," Sasuke answered.

"We better get some sleep then," Nao said.

"If we're gonna sleep we'll need to do it in shifts just in case," Chouji said as he appeared from the shack on the mouth of the cave.

"I think Shino's bugs will be a good enough alarm system," Sasuke countered.

Chouji's mouth twisted in thought. "I guess."

* * *

As the first rays of light began to peek over the mountains a lone bug raced along the tunnels back to her master. She landed in Shino's right ear and made a frantic clicking sound.

Shino's eyes fluttered open and his eyes looked toward the right. After a moment of listening to his insect companion he nodded. "I see. Arigato." He stood up and the bug flew away as he began to wake the rest of his team.

* * *

Ino's eyes drooped as she watched the sky. She was the last one voted to be on watch and consciousness was beginning to escape her when she saw a trail of smoke as a huge flare screamed across the heavens and exploded at its zenith. She shook off her exhaustion and bolted into the base. She ran into the main chamber yelling. "It's time! It's time! Everyone, get up!"

The rest of the green team began to stand up as quickly as their sleep clouded minds would allow. "Aw man, Ino," Naruto grumbled as he got to his feet. "You woke me up out of the best dream."

"What was it about?" Hinata asked.

Naruto looked at his girlfriend and blushed. He cleared his throat. "We don't have time for that," he said quickly.

Neji cocked an eyebrow but let it drop. "Naruto's right. We need to get moving."

"We'll need a field team and a guard team," A male Waterfall genin said. The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"Well, either Hinata or Neji should be in the field team. We'll definitely need the byakugan out there," Naruto said.

"I will volunteer for guard duty," Neji said, figuring there would be a better chance for action nearer the enemy's prize.

"Okay then, Hina-chan it is," Naruto said with a smile. "I want to be in the field team. Lee, how bout you? We'll need your speed."

"Of course, Naruto-kun," Lee replied with his trademark 'nice-guy pose'.

"I will volunteer for the field team," Toby said, stepping forward.

Naruto smiled. "Okay."

A Waterfall genin spoke up. "I have a kekkei genkai that could be useful."

"What is it?" Temari asked.

"I can hear over large distances," he answered.

"Works for me. What's your name?" Naruto asked.

"Tsuyoshi," the Waterfall genin answered with a small smile.

"I suggest Ino for the field team as well. Her body switching jutsu may help remove a few guards," Neji offered.

Naruto nodded.

"That makes six for the field team and seven for the guard team. I think it's a good balance," Neji said.

"Let's go everyone," Hinata said cheerfully.

* * *

The blue team's field unit held their collective breath as they waited for inner Sakura to return. They had decided that since the early morning afforded them a lot of shadows that Sakura's kekkei genkai would be the best way to scout the enemy's base. A barely discernible whisper in the wind was all that announced it had returned. Inner Sakura landed in front of the group and gave its report. "I saw two outside and I suspect there are more within."

Sakura frowned. "Who's on the outside?"

"Neji and Temari," Inner Sakura answered.

"Thank you," Sakura said and then released the jutsu. She turned to the others. "This is bad."

"Why?" Nao asked.

"If Neji's on the outside there's a good chance we've already been seen," Kiba replied with a slight growl to his voice.

"How could he see us?" a female Sound genin asked. "We can't even see him from here."

"It's his kekkei genkai," Sakura answered. "He can see through solid objects."

The Sound genin's eyes widened but then looked confused. "But then why hasn't he alerted the others on guard?"

"He's probably waiting to see what we do," a male Rock genin answered.

"Sakura," Sasuke said. "Do you think inner Sakura could manage to sneak up on him?"

Sakura shook her head. "He would see the chakra signature easily. I think our best strategy would be to create a distraction of some sort."

"I could try a genjutsu," the Sound genin offered. "They're my area of expertise."

"But what kind of illusion would work on someone like Neji?" Sakura asked to no one in particular.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Lava.…"

Kankuro's eyes narrowed. "Lava?"

"Tenten told me about it a few months back. Neji has an extreme fire phobia. He's managed to deal with it for the most part through immersion therapy but Tenten said that when they had to cross the volcano he froze solid. They had to help him back from the edge," Sasuke replied.

"Works for me," Sakura said. "What's your name?" she asked the sound genin.

The sound genin smiled. "Kagura."

"Okay, Kagura. How close do you need to be to your subject?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe about another fifty yards," Kagura answered.

"That's all?" the Rock genin commented in surprise. "You've got one hell of a range."

Kagura smiled wider. "Like I said; Genjutsu is my specialty."

* * *

Neji managed to keep his mask of calm as he watched the group of enemies nearly four hundred yards away but he was starting to get impatient. What were they doing? They hadn't so much as twitched a muscle in the last fifteen minutes and that bothered him. As he was thinking he began to notice the ground around him waver and very quickly he was standing on a tiny rock island in the middle of a sea of lava. His eyes went as wide as dinner plates as his muscles stiffened. He felt like he couldn't breath. It didn't matter that his conscious mind knew it had to be a genjutsu, it was his subconscious that was in control.

Temari looked on with confusion at her comrade's sudden change in demeanor. "Neji? Neji are you alright?" She reached out and touched his shoulder. "Oi." When she didn't get a response she turned her attention to the forest in front of them, scanning it for the other team. This _had_ to be an enemy jutsu. _Mostly likely a genjutsu_ she thought. She turned around briefly and swung her fan toward the open cave door, sending a gust of wind inside to alert her team mates. Within seconds the rest of the guard team appeared.

Under his mask, Tobi cocked an eyebrow. "They only left one guard outside?" he remarked in a dubious tone.

Naruto frowned. "Trust me. Having Shino out there is the same as having a couple hundred guards. He has these bugs that go scouting for him."

"Bugs?" Tobi asked.

"They live inside his body," Ino replied, making a disgusted face.

Tsuyoshi winced at the idea of insects living in someone's body. "I can try listening for the bugs," he offered.

"Unfortunately they're so small I don't think it would be all that helpful-even with your kekkei genkai," Hinata said with apologetic expression.

Tsuyoshi frowned in disappointment. He had really hoped that his presence would have been more of an asset. He'd even kept his kekkei genkai active the entire mission but his chakra reserves were running low and now he was afraid he would become a burden instead. Suddenly he picked up on a sound to his right, then one from the front and still another from his left. His eyes widened. "His bugs already gave him our location...We're surrounded."

"What?!" Lee said with wide eyes.

Naruto looked around them but saw no one. He set his jaw. "Where are they?" he asked.

"One on each side and one in front," Tsuyoshi replied. "They're about a hundred meters away."

"Nice work, Tsuyoshi," Naruto said with a smile.

In a tree not far away an Ame jounin nodded in approval and added points to Naruto's score.

"Should we go to them or wait for them to come to us?" Lee asked to no one in particular.

After a moment Naruto smiled. "We're gonna let them come to us," he said. "Hina-chan. You remember our mud fight a few months back?"

Hinata blushed a little. "Y-yes."

Naruto's grin grew wider. "You remember how you won?"

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

I've lost all but one of my beta readers so if anyone would like to volunteer as a beta please PM me.

And now on to why it's been seven months since my last update. This has been a very bad year for me. A week or so after my depressive disorder relapse I lost my favorite aunt to cancer and just when I was starting to feel better I lost my grandmother and then another aunt the day after my grandma's funeral. So I really haven't felt like writing.

I decided to change the way the chuunin exams operate because not one test in the exams from the manga seemed to be about leadership skills to me. And I'm sorry for skipping over the preliminaries but I felt it would have been a long string of useless fights that really wouldn't advance the story.

Take care everyone,

Song


	40. The Hidden Enemy

Colors of Life and Death series

Truth in Dreams

by Songbird21

Chapter 40

* * *

A female Cloud genin slowly made her way toward the green team's field unit. She knew her comrades coming in from other directions would meet her in the middle. But as she reached her destination, she saw nothing but her teammates and a clearing with a large, muddy puddle in the middle. "What the hell?"

"I know," Chouji said with a confused expression. "They shoulda been here."

A female Rock genin glanced around and then frowned in irritation. "I knew we couldn't trust the directions of a bunch of stupid bugs!" she complained.

A male Cloud genin spoke up. "No. He seemed to know what he was talking about. Something's not right here...a genjutsu, maybe?"

Chouji nodded in agreement, just as the scenery changed. Suddenly, they were surrounded and had no time to react.

"Kaiten!"

"Rasengan!"

Between Hinata and Naruto the blue team was covered in mud in less than ten seconds and quite a bit of it had gotten in their eyes. "Dammit! I can't see!" The male Cloud genin complained.

Naruto stopped his jutsu. "Lee! GO!"

Lee saluted and ran off toward the base while the others stayed to fight.

The Rock genin wiped the mud from her eyes but they were red and watering from irritation. "You think that one guy is gonna get past our guards?" she spat at the green team.

Naruto grinned. "He's too fast to be caught by just a couple guards. That scroll is as good as ours."

The Rock genin glared and the green team attacked.

* * *

Temari stood tensely as she scanned the forest. _Where the hell are they?_ she thought.

Neji watched in horror as the lava surrounding his little island began to rise. When it covered his body, it was more than his mind could take.

A female sound genin was about to break Neji out of the genjutsu but he suddenly screamed and fell over unconscious. "What the hell happened?" she asked in alarm.

"Something in the genjutsu must have put him into shock. We'll hafta take care of him later," said a female Mist genin.

"Dammit," Temari cursed. Suddenly, her shadow came alive as a leg came out of it and kicked her legs out from under her.

Inner Sakura stood and the rest of the blue team's field unit ran out to meet her.

Tenten stood in a battle stance, kunai at the ready. "If you were trying to surprise us, you failed miserably," she said with a smirk.

Sakura returned the smirk and folded her arms. "Oh no. We succeeded alright. You're out a byakugan user."

Tenten nodded. "Yeah," she raised the kunai, "But you're still goin' down."

Nao's hands went into a seal. Kiba recognized it and smiled. "Kuikkusando no jutsu!"

The ground under the green team turned to quicksand, and while the others managed to jump away in time, the sound genin was sucked into the ground up to her neck.

Nao released the jutsu and the ground solidified. "You're not going anywhere for a while," she said with a smile. But her smile was quickly wiped away as she dodged a barrage of Tenten's shuriken.

A rain genin's hands flew through a series of seals. "Koorihari (Ice needle) no Jutsu!" Thousands of ice shards formed from the moisture in the air and rocketed toward Sasuke, who used a fire jutsu to melt them. The rain genin glared in frustration. "Dammit," she cursed.

Kankuro stepped on rock that immediately sunk into the ground. His eyes widened as he heard a hissing sound a second before several explosive tags blew up in a circle around him. "AAAAAHH!" He yelled as he was thrown backwards from the blast. After a minute he staggered to his feet. The small explosion seemed to have been designed to incapacitate, rather than kill. He was dizzy and his ears were ringing but he was otherwise alright. The dizziness quickly got to him though and he promptly vomited.

Suddenly a loud whistle came from the trees and the jounin examiner leapt down in between the teams. "Everyone stand down. The green team is the winner."

Cheers broke out from the green team at their base, with the exception of Kankuro, who only managed to smile through his nausea.

"What?" Sakura complained. "So quickly?"

The jounin smiled. "You're welcome to read the reports if you wish. But for now, everyone is to return to Amegakuru."

With heavy hearts the blue team gathered their incapacitated members and headed to the village.

* * *

Naruto was grinning like a Cheshire cat when the jounin made the announcement. The field group for the green team had gotten through the ordeal with only relatively minor injuries. Hinata had a small cut on her arm and everyone else was only bruised.

Lee returned, proudly holding the blue team's scroll.

"Alright, Lee!" Naruto cheered!

Tobi stepped closer to Naruto. "May I have a word with you in private?" he asked quietly so he wouldn't be over heard.

Naruto blinked in surprised. "Um, sure. Just lemme tell Hina-chan to go ahead without me."

"Arigato," Tobi answered.

* * *

Hinata had an uneasy feeling as she walked away from Naruto. They had only met this Tobi person a few days ago at the start of the exams and yet he was asking Naruto to speak in private. What could someone who they barely knew need to talk to Naruto in private about? She suddenly reached out and grabbed Sasuke's sleeve. "Sasuke-kun," she said softly.

Sasuke turned to her, a questioning look in his eyes. "Hm?"

"Something's wrong. I can sense it. We have to go back and check on Naruto-kun," she said with urgency in her voice.

Sasuke frowned. Truthfully he'd been a little suspicious of Tobi from minute one but he'd convinced himself he was being paranoid. But now that Hinata was also concerned he decided it was time to act. "Wait here," he said to her. He jogged a little ahead to catch up to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, Hinata and I think Naruto might be in danger."

Kakashi cocked his head to one side. "How so?"

"That Tobi guy. Something about him doesn't seem right and he asked Naruto to talk to him alone," Sasuke answered.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "That's not really enough to make me think Naruto's in danger."

"Please. I know I'm right," Sasuke urged.

Kakashi sighed and folded his arms. "Alright. You round up a few genin and I'll get Tomoyo-chan and Gai-sensei. But we're not bothering any of the higher-ups until we know for sure that there's actually a problem."

Sasuke sighed in reluctant agreement and ran off to help Hinata form a group.

* * *

"So, what's up?" Naruto asked Tobi.

Tobi removed his mask, revealing a man who was much older than the teenager he had pretended to be. This man had to be in his late forties at least.

Naruto backed up a step. "Who are you?"

"Uchiha Madara," he took a step closer to Naruto. "And you...are coming with me."

...TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

Sorry for the long wait everyone. As I've said numerous times in the chapter notes I will finish it no matter how long it takes. But things have been very difficult for me the past 15 months. Starting last year first my favorite aunt died, then about a month later one of my grandmas died, two days after that another aunt died, one of my uncles died a month or so after that, then one of my cousins later that week, then six months later my favorite grandma died and then a few months after that one of my daughter's best friends died (The poor kid was only 9). So...yeah...I swear I'm cursed. I'm nervous every time the phone rings now.

At any rate, all this is why the next chapter has sat halfway done for the last year. Also aside from the fact that the manga has been sucking so much ass lately, I'm actually working on a novel I hope to get published so that's using up a lot of the time that I actually feel happy enough to write. I've spent a lot of the last year or so drowning my sorrows in video games. It's gotten better though.

I hope to have the next chapter up in a month or so but I can't promise anything. Aside from my real life problems you guys know I hate writing battle sequences. And just to give you guys a heads up, I will be massively lowering the power of a couple of the Akatsuki. One of the reasons the manga is annoying me of late is the ridiculous amount of god-modding. I fricking hate bad guys in Naruto so powerful that I'm wondering where they're hiding the damn Harry Potter wands. Seriously. It's s'posed to be ninjustu, not magic. And Naruto defeating Pein with a Sailor Moon like tactic (AKA: I can fight you with love)? WTF? I love Sailor Moon but keep it out of my Naruto, dammit. Sorry, I'll stop ranting now.

Anywho, if you've stuck with me for this long I thank you greatly. I'm honestly astonished I have any readers left.

I apologize for the chapter being so short but I'm stuck on how to handle the next sequence and I wanted to at least give you guys _something_ to let you know I was still alive.

Laters,

Song


	41. An explanation of my absense

Dear readers,

Since I've gotten so many reviews asking me to continue I decided to answer them all in one shot like this.

I will not break my promise. I _will _finish this one day. Unfortunately my life has been a living hell lately. You all remember me posting about all the deaths in my family. Well, on top of that, the greatest tradgedy of my life occured in May of 12. My husband of 16 years who I loved more than life itself cheated on me (I found out on Mother's Day) with an 18 year old girl who was 25 years younger than him. The ONLY reason I didn't suspect they were dating was because of her age...I was so naive.

Never in a million years would I have ever thought this would happen. I was devistated. We tried to reconcile for 6 months but he eventually decided he just wasn't in love with me anymore and moved out back in October.

All this has destroyed so many of my opinions about life and love. I no longer believe there's a such thing as a couple who is invulnerable to being split up. I used to believe this with all my heart. I used to trust my husband so much that if I had walked in on another women's lips on his and it didn't look like he was actively kissing her back I would've assume she'd surprise kissed him and he hadn't had the chance to shove her off yet...I will never trust like that again.

Thank God I have my little girl. If it weren't for her I may have wound up killing myself over an asshole not worth doing that over. I've finally come to the near end of the mourning process and am feeling much better about myself. I'm slowly losing the disgust at every happy couple I see. And I'm actually looking for someone new (Feels weird to say that at 36).

The only reason I still have any contact with the stranger wearing my husband's face is because of my daughter. I used to want him back so badly but I've come to realize that the man I loved has been dead for at least two years. And you can't ressurect the dead.

Well, I hope that explains everything. Hopefully I will feel up to writing again soon. Part of the reason I haven't started yet is because of NaruHina. I just can't write romance right now. :( Thank you so much to everyone who hasn't given up on this story.

Sincerly,  
Song

P.S- Sorry if this being posted got anyone excited because they thought a new chappy was out.


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